By Kathryn Olsen
In Centerville, in CenterPoint Legacy Theater’s more intimate Leishman Performance Hall, A Streetcar Named Desire invites the audience into a credible representation of mid-20th-Century New Orleans. It is a classic story told with the accompaniment of distant insect buzzes, rumbling train wheels, and even persistent merchants. This Tennessee Williams masterpiece, which won the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, involves characters of undeniable authenticity and a plot of timeless relevance. I came into the show only knowing the setting, one monologue, and an iconic moment immortalized by Marlon Brando’s 1951 film adaptation. When an actor friend discovered that I was seeing it as an initiate, he commented, “You forget about how much life has progressed since then.”
The play itself could be set in any modern metropolis with its racial conflicts, family secrets, economic crises, and substance abuse. Blanche Dubois (Wendy Oltmanns) descends from a streetcar on New Orlean’s Desire line and into a French Quarter that is beyond her genteel nightmares. She scoffs at her sister Stella’s (Amanda Angerbauer) choice of marrying into deplorable conditions while eventually admitting to financial ruin and homelessness. This causes tension from the start, first between sisters and later between Blanche and her increasingly volatile brother-in-law Stanley (Russell Maxfield). Streetcar becomes an aptly-named train wreck with an unhappy ending for everyone in the principal roles. As Stanley says of alcohol, “Some people rarely touch it, but it touches them often.”
Such a harrowing story cannot be done justice without a phenomenal cast and crew, and CPT brings this to its audience. I noticed in the cast biographies that the central married couple pairs Morticia Addams with Gaston, while my only experience with director Liz Christensen was last year’s hilarious The Pirates of Penzance. I looked forward to seeing how much or how little I could recognize of past roles in current portrayals.
Centerville native Maxfield plays the resentful drunkard Stanley so chillingly that it is nearly impossible to believe that he most recently played a man with a technicolor dreamcoat. There is only so much of an abusive nature that can be lifted from dialogue and stage directions, so his rendition makes the audience curious about his transformation into villanous-yet-uncaricatured character.
Angerbauer is a newcomer to this theater but is well-established elsewhere in Utah. Her mother remarked during our conversation at intermission that Angerbauer came naturally into the Mississippi accent and enjoys the role. It is difficult to imagine this fine actress’ joy when Stella is hiding in terror or visibly reeling from a devastating revelation, while alternating with sunny attempts to pretend at a happy life. I made sure to send my compliments with Angerbauer’s mother and an honest remark, “She’s phenomenal.”
Blanche’s role demands a descent into disorientation as unmistakable and gradual as Stanley’s deterioration into degradation. Oltmanns is clearly no stranger to emotionally-charged roles and she is incredibly impressive as someone who must both flirt shamelessly and struggle against a growing personal nightmare.
The last central actor who must be mentioned is Brandon Green, who plays the continually-enamored Mitch with effective expression of the gentleness and strength that Blanche claims to admire. He depicts realistic and humble devotion and duty that makes later changes in plot devastating.
The remainder of this ensemble cast must be considered as ensembles because they are so often a context or a response to something that has just happened. They are often the reason the audience has to step back from the tension to enjoy a moment of stress relief and humor. Eunice and Steve (Marinda Maxfield and Logan Gifford) are the upstairs neighbors with problems of their own, who nevertheless have a less alarming approach to resolving things. Mitch’s poker buddies, Steve and Pablo (Andrew Oliverson) are like a Greek chorus who can be found both siding with or coming to blows with Stanley. A doctor and nurse (Curtis Kidd and Janilee Hutchings) appear in a single scene as a natural part of the storyline. And even characters with momentary roles, such as the paper collector (Dylan Marriott) and an occasionally-seen vendor of flowers and food, are simply viewed as elements of the neighborhood in which the play is set.One of the most noteworthy elements of the play is the way in which director Christensen approaches the story’s most brutal elements. The synopsis mentions characters disbelieving a report of assault, which is then furthered in the playbill, where there are statistics on sexual violence provided and resources recommended for those who have experienced something of this kind and those who want to support them. It also made an impression when the cast took no bows at the end but received their standing ovation still in character and in the last poses of the action. In a time of the #Metoo movement, such sensitivity is appreciated.
The setting design team of Brian Hahn, Nathan Hadley, Derek Walden, and Raquel Davis do a marvelous job of isolating the audience and the cast inside a true-to-life snapshot of the era and area. Tammis Boam’s costume design is effective, ranging from Stanley’s uniform of wife-beater shirt and slacks to Blanche’s self-aggrandizing wardrobe that makes everything that Stella can afford look shabby. And Christensen, unrecognizable from her comedic direction of Gilbert and Sullivan, helms the production with awe-inspiring understanding of the issues.
While CenterPoint Legacy Theater’s A Streetcar Named Desire is a play best received by audiences over 16, it is one never to be missed by any student of human nature. Come to Centerville prepared to think hard about love, life, and the consequences of both before its run ends.
CenterPoint Legacy Theater presents A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
CenterPoint Legacy Theater, 525 N 400 W, Centerville, UT 84014
January 11-24, 2019, 7:00 PM
Tickets: $15
Contact: 801-298-1302, www.centerpointtheatre.org
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