Review Roundup: What Did Critics Think of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE at Soulpepper Theatre?

A Streetcar Named Desire recently opened at Soulpepper Theatre. Read what critics had to say!

As Blanche's fragile world crumbles, she turns to her sister for solace - but her downward spiral brings her face to face with a brutal, unforgiving reality. Tennessee Williams' timeless masterpiece is a raging portrayal of what it means to be an outsider, in a society where we're all desperate to belong.

Read the reviews below!

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Louis Train, BroadwayWorld: Amy Rutherford makes for an exquisite Blanche, delicate as lace soaked in bourbon. Leah Doz as Stella plays both passion and compassion, torn between her lover for her sister and her love - a very different love, but a real love, I think - for her brutish husband, Stanley. Only Mac Fyfe, as the aforementioned brute, falls a bit short of the others. He is angry but not frightening, excited but not intense, animalistic in the sense of a hissing raccoon. But then, maybe that's the point.

Martin Morrow, The Globe and Mail: In a production where the name "Blanche" is more freighted than ever, Mengesha ramps up the play's diversity, casting upstairs neighbours Eunice (Akosua Amo-Adem) and Steve (Lindsay Owen Pierre) as an interracial couple. She also builds on the musical component that's integral to Williams's drama (we're in New Orleans, after all). The singer Sate fronts a rowdy jazz-blues combo that carries us swaying through the scene transitions. Music director Mike Ross and sound designer Debashis Sinha see to it that the air is always alive with tunes, including the fateful polka that whirls through Blanche's tormented brain.

Samantha Wu, Mooney on Theatre: As integral as the cast are in this performance, so is the set. Director Weyni Mengesha, along with set designer Lorenzo Savoini and costume designer Rachel Forbes, have created sumptuously stunning set that creates dynamic textures and layers for the actors to play with. I love how the play began on a stark and empty set and as Blanche got off the Desire streetcar and found her way to Stella's apartment, the set came to life with lightning speed. Immediately, a lived-in, run-down apartment sprung up around them as if it was there all along.

Photo Credit: Dahlia Katz

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