Need I say more? And how come I just heard about this production at BAM.
By Tennessee Williams
Sydney Theatre Company
Directed By Liv Ullmann
"…how often do you get to watch an actress of such virtuosity pulling out every stop of her instrument and then some?" —The New York Times on Cate Blanchett
Tennessee
Williams has a way with his women. Both sympathetic and merciless, he
cuts to their core, revealing their longing, vulnerability, and pride.
His most poignant creation—and the dream role of every leading
actress—may be the narcissistic and deeply troubled Blanche DuBois of A Streetcar Named Desire.
An
aging Southern beauty, Blanche is all artifice, pomposity, and need,
traits that Cate Blanchett, a transcendent performer (who made her New
York stage debut at BAM in 2006 as an unforgettable Hedda Gabler),
conveys with the most delicate balance of hysteria and pathos. Playing
off of Joel Edgerton as the remorseless monster Stanley, and Robin
McLeavy, as her conflicted sister Stella, Blanchett and the outstanding
ensemble cast of the Sydney Theatre Company bring new life to this
celebrated work.
Liv Ullmann—whose own soul-baring performances
in the films of Ingmar Bergman defined an era—directs, granting
Williams' fraught characters a full spectrum of emotions while
witnessing the old South's losing battle against a coarse modern world.
BAM Harvey Theater
145min with intermission
Tickets: Tue—Thu: $30, 65, 95; Fri—Sun: $40, 80, 120
*Nov 27 & 28, Dec 1, 2, 4, 5, 8—12, 15—19 at 7:30pm
Nov 28, Dec 2, 5, 9, 12, 16, & 19 at 2pm
Nov 29, Dec 6, 13, 20 at 3pm
Dec 3 at 8pm (Belle Rêve Gala)
Just saw the performance at the Kennedy Center. Cate is still my favorite actress, despite this play. From the odd set to the bad accents to the distinctly non-New Orleans atmosphere and inappropriate music, it was a huge disappointment. I have never seen this play played for laughs – that was interesting!