review by Annie Davis
The Milton Players have done it again! Their first production of the season A Streetcar Named Desire closed Sunday afternoon to a full house, and it was a memorable event. All aspects of this production of the Pulitzer-winning play by Tennessee Williams were of professional quality, proving once again that the Milton Players are a jewel in Milton’s crown.
This is a challenging piece: the roles and direction have been presented by giants of stage and screen (Marlon Brando, Jessica Tandy, Laurence Olivier, even Marge Simpson); it has been seen my millions; lighting and sound function almost as characters; its lines are familiar; and the play itself is deep, violent, and laden with imagery and symbolism. For those familiar only with the famous film, the play is darker and more tragic. With these high benchmarks, the Milton Players –all the cast and crew– delivered a stirring performance.
As the audience enters the theatre to find their seats, they encounter actors up front, evoking an active New Orleans street scene. Live banjo, stringed bass, and singing further create the mood, while onstage, we see Stella in the Kowalsky kitchen (it rotates to reveal the bedroom) and a building façade of the French quarter. The action escalates, the theatre darkens, and we are pulled into a steamy New Orleans night.
“They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at —Elysian Fields!” says Blanche DuBois, a falsely genteel faded relic of the old South, whose seductiveness and delusions are confronted and violated by her brother-in-law, Stanley, himself a symbol of the perceived rape of the south by urban industrialism. Physical abuse, alcoholism, death, darkness, illusion. . . these are familiar themes in Williams’s work, and “Streetcar” has them all.
For community theatre to tackle such difficult themes, production values, and demanding roles could be risky for a troupe of less talent, conviction, and experience. The Milton Players have the right stuff and soared with this production of “Streetcar.” Bravo to them all!
Congratulations to the entire cast, whose substantial talents carried this amazing production. They are:Erin Stulb (Blanche), Sara Daly (Stella), Dan Marshall (Stanley), Kenneth Senibaldi (Mitch), Pat Brawley (Eunice), Michael P. Bradley (Steve), Brain Moore-Ward (Pablo), Maria Acerra (Mexican Woman), J. Michael Whalen (Doctor), Jennifer Walsh (Nurse), Dyan Ruffen-Madrey (Neighbor), Pandelis Athanasiadis (Collector). It was directored by Frederick Fairbanks, assisted by Anastasia O”Brien and Tanya S. Kutasz (Stage Manager).
Next up for the Milton Players: “Let’s Murder Marsha,” a comedy by Monk Ferris, January 28, 29 and February 4,5,& 6, 2011; then, the musical “The Secret Garden” April 8,9,15, 16, & 17, 2011.