“A Blanche Named Russell Peck” ****
by Aron Canter (guest reviewer)
From time to time Theatre's Leiter Side will be posting reviews of Off-Off Broadway shows my schedule prevents me from seeing. If you are interested in reviewing Off-Off Broadway, please contact me so we can discuss. I hope you find the expanded coverage useful. Sam Leiter
by Aron Canter (guest reviewer)
From time to time Theatre's Leiter Side will be posting reviews of Off-Off Broadway shows my schedule prevents me from seeing. If you are interested in reviewing Off-Off Broadway, please contact me so we can discuss. I hope you find the expanded coverage useful. Sam Leiter
 |
| Russell Peck, Max Carpenter. Photo: Rosie Soko. |
Few plays in the American canon are as well-known as Tennessee
Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire,
and few renditions of American characters are as well-known as the film performances by Vivien Leigh and
Marlon Brando’s of Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski. As such, revivals are in danger of “doing” Leigh and Brando, rather than discovering
the characters freshly. Such is absolutely not the case here. Director Kevin
Hourigan’s Streetcar makes impressive, honest
choices that reveal new colors in the classic script.
The production distinguishes itself through its
unique portrait of Blanche. Instead of the hysteric we frequently see, she comes
off here as a practical woman broken down by the sorry and painful conditions
of her life. Streetcar is the story of Blanche
DuBois, a relic of the Old South, who travels to New Orleans, in the damp heart
of the New South, to live with her sister, Stella, and her sister’s working-class
husband, Stanley.
The themes are deeply American and poetic: the changing economic
landscape, the exploded social landscape, and the relationship between desire
and death. In the play, Blanche and Stanley become antagonistic, as they
represent two extremely different versions of the South that cannot coexist.
Violence, both physical and psychological, ensues. The play ends with Stanley
violently assaulting Blanche, followed by her removal to an asylum.
 |
| Isabel Ellison, Russell Peck, Max Carpenter. Photo: Rosie Soko. |
Williams’s major themes are intact, but additional ones, with
contemporary relevance, shine through. The production fashions Blanche as a
secure woman, with none of the victim-blaming often accredited to the script.
This characterization has ripple effects through every other character and the
unfolding events. The result is an effective portrayal of a person sincerely
trying to take steps to get her life together, and trying to save her sister
from an abusive relationship.
 |
| Max Carpenter, Isabel Ellison, Russell Peck. Photo: Rosie Soko. |
While the element of spousal abuse is always present, Hourigan and
his crew make it more central and apparent. Blanche is responsible so, when she
reproaches Stanley, there is no latent desire and class-cruelty. No longer the
unreliable hysteric, she seems to make decisions based on a cost-benefit
analysis, seeing Stanley as dangerous. When they talk, she isn’t teasing and
tempting an animal, but trying to tame one.
As portrayed by Mx. Russell Peck, the first
genderqueer actor the Williams estate has granted the rights to play the role—a
point lightly noted toward the end—Blanche doesn’t seem like a liar. Her
untruths and misdirections are central to the character, so this choice is
significant. When Blanche speaks the famous line, “I don’t
want realism, I want magic . . . I don’t tell the truth, I tell what ought to be
the truth,” it feels logical and justified, a fair and oddly healthy response
to the circumstances. Blanche is not clinging to an aristocratic past, but
doing her best to navigate an unsteady future with charm, poise, and dignity,
the only avenues to healthy growth.
Performed at Mister Rogers in Crown Heights, the production is
staged on a minimal but realistic set, designed by Choul Lee, and performed
between two single rows of folding chairs on either side of the performance
space. Matthew Webb’s lighting design fits well with the desired realism, creating
an effective atmosphere for some of the more poetic encounters. Nancy Peck’s
costumes are lovely, with some lovely accent dresses. A live piano, played by
Tony Macht, who also acts in the play, helps to evoke the mood.
Hourigan does an impressive job marshaling the drama across the performance
space. He often has action moving in opposite directions, creating dynamism
that helps justify the violent encounters. The actors have the freedom to
naturally wind their way around the Kowalski apartment, and the organization of
the space and performers contributes to the clear storytelling and the relaxed
New Orleans atmosphere. The production features explicit violence which, while
extreme, is handled appropriately.
Stella, performed by Isabel Ellison, is particularly impressive.
She shoulders her burden--to care for Blanche and handle Stanley—with a sense
of leadership I formerly had not seen in the character. She swims through her
character, as if savoring every bit of moisture pressing against her skin.
Stanley, performed by Max Carpenter, glistens, offering an element of
forethought that makes his violence all the more disturbing. David J. Cork’s
Mitch has all of the sincerity and sweetness we’ve come to expect in the
character but none of the “ah-shucks” attitude often found.
In any classic’s remounting, I hope to be told the familiar story
with new and telling touches. This revival satisfies that hope.
Mister Rogers
231 Rogers Ave, Brooklyn
Through May 25
Aron Canter studied theatre theory and alternative performance at The New School and is working toward an Art History masters at Hunter College. He has been a theatre and art critic, a supernumerary at The Metropolitan Opera, and currently works as a medical professional. aron.canter@gmail.com