Steadstyle Chicago
October 2009 Theatre Review by Joe Stead
A Streetcar Named Desire
There is nothing quite like a Tennessee Williams classic steam boiler to turn up the temperature. Polarity Ensemble Theatre is giving Williams' eternally popular "A Streetcar Named Desire" the kind of stick-to-your-ribs Chicago storefront revival that is mighty satisfying. In Ashley Ann Woods' rough and tumble tenement set you can practically smell the decay, the mold and mildew of the dirty New Orleans apartment with its muddy tiles, naked light bulbs and humble amenities. It's the kind of squalid place a Southern debutante like Blanche DuBois, no matter how faded a magnolia herself, would be torturously repelled by. And in Laura Sturm's magnificent, quietly sensual account, Blanche is a lady through and through whose acquaintance we as an audience are extremely glad to make.
In Director Ann Keen's vivid and occasionally raucous interpretation, the contrast between the old world gentility of Blanche and the carnal desires of her sister Stella are quite telling. Stella makes it perfectly clear that she is content to live a lower class of life with her violent but red-blooded husband Stanley Kowalski. Blanche feels it is up to her to protect and rescue her baby sister, and herself as well. Blanche has arrived on the Kowalski doorstep destitute, having lost the family homestead and nearly all of her relatives. Fate has been unkind to say the least to Blanche, as the demons of the past continue to haunt her. The juxtaposition of Blanche's need for magic and kindness in a harsh and realistic world is symbolized in her face to face square off with the unmannerly Stanley. Blanche assesses her brother-in-law as a common ape, while Stanley is incensed by Blanche's mock purity and hypocrisy.
Mason Hill's Stanley has some of the blue collar machismo but little of the animal like fervor to make the iconic role of Stanley catch fire. Hill's competent but indistinct portrayal is the one element that is slightly lacking in this otherwise crackling production. There are other fervent portrayals from Abigail Trabue as Stella and Alex Thompson as Mitch, and bolstered by fiery supporting work from Lauren Cerkiewicz and Jason Wisnewski as the neighboring Hubbells. But this production ultimately is an opportunity to watch a true star performance from Laura Sturm as Blanche. This intelligent and lovely actress resists most of the chances to chew the scenery, as she yearns for beauty in an extremely ugly world. Sturm is mesmerizing.
Polarity Ensemble Theatre presents "A Streetcar Named Desire" through November 8, 2009 at the Josephinium Academy, located at 1500 N. Bell in Chicago. The play runs 3 hours with intermission. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Tickets are $19 general admission. More information is available at www.petheatre.com.
About Joe Stead
Joe
Stead has enjoyed a lifelong passion for the theatre, which has
involved acting, directing, producing, designing and reviewing for
the past twenty-five years. He served as founder, producer and
Artistic Director of Curtain Up Productions in Baltimore, Maryland
and Four Star Players in Tampa, Florida. Favorite productions
have included "Life With Father," "Deathtrap,"
"The Odd Couple," "The Miracle Worker,"
"Brighton Beach Memoirs," "You're A Good Man, Charlie
Brown" and "Godspell". He has also performed
leading roles in "Fiddler on the Roof," "Pippin,"
"The Phantom of the Opera," "The Front Page," and
most recently as Hucklebee in "The Fantasticks" for
Waukegan Community Players. Joe holds a degree in Commercial
Art from Tampa Technical Institute. As a critic, he has
reviewed everything from Broadway to community theatre and major
regional theatres throughout the United States including the Kennedy
Center in Washington, D.C., Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey,
Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, and the Asolo Theatre in
Sarasota, Florida.
Since 1998, he has been a proud resident of Chicago, the greatest theatre city in America. He served for two years as Theatre Editor for College News and Central Newspapers. He created the website Steadstyle Chicago in 2000 to showcase the city's outstanding and diverse theatre scene. Joe was proud to serve alongside a distinguished panel of theatre professionals as a judge for two seasons of Speaking Ring Theatre's "Vitality" Festival of original short plays. His most fulfilling role, in addition to reviewer and all-around theatre fanatic, was as director of the 2007 production of Peter Shaffer's "Equus" at Actors Workshop (now Redtwist) Theatre, which was nominated for five Joseph Jefferson Award Citations and won for Best Actor (Peter Oyloe).