Presented by Odéon – Théâtre de L'europe in conjunction with the Adelaide Festival and Adelaide Festival Centre
Reviewed Friday 16th March 2012
A Streetcar, running at 155 minutes, is a marathon and, having no interval, a good many were forced to make their own, whenever the discomfort of bladder pressure left them no option. The irregular comings and goings were rather distracting but, no doubt, an interval was considered a hazard, as many would probably not have returned.
A Streetcar Named Desire, the multi ward winning 1947 'Great American Play' by Tennessee Williams, is an exceptionally fine piece of writing. This is an adaptation based on his play and, considering the importance and quality of the original, one cannot but help ask, “Why”? To rewrite a work like this, there has to be a good reason, such as providing new insights, but there were none here. With the dialogue in French and the surtitles so erratic, often several in a row just flashing by unreadably in an effort to catch up when the operator lost track, it was difficult enough just to follow it, let alone get much from it. It did not help that the surtitles were displayed at the far sides of the stage or high above it so that trying to read them and watch the play at the same time was just too much to ask. Trying to also watch the myriad live action video projections became a compete impossibility.
Having read and seen the original play many times, it was possible for me to follow this production to a reasonable degree, but it was not exactly played to the original. My very minimal French was not a lot of help, other than to confirm that the dialogue, and the many monologues, did not always match with the surtitles.
It took a moment at the start to realise that we were seeing Blanche at a point after the Williams play ends, sitting in the lunatic asylum. She was stuffing copious quantities of food into her already full mouth and trying to deliver her opening monologue at the same time This was a grotesque view of her fate, but the reason for this inclusion was never clear.
Polish director Krzysztof Warlikowski adapted the original script, in conjunction with Piotr Gruszczywski, with the translation by Wajdi Mouawad. Whereas the original is set in the working class apartment of Stanley and Stella Kowalski in the French quarter of New Orleans, on Elysian Fields Avenue, this is set in France in a stylish apartment that could easily be on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, which translates as the same address. Interestingly, the Elysian Fields was the place of the 'blessed dead' of Greek mythology and, no doubt, Williams saw some significance in this when he chose it for the Kowalski's address.
The original Blanche is a fading Southern Belle, deluding herself that the old South has not gone and that she still holds the social position and attractiveness that she had when younger. Stanley is a boorish man, verbally and physically abusive with a firm view of a woman's place in the home and in society; what would now be referred to as a Chauvinist. Blanche sees him as dragging her sister, Stella, down to his level. They are from very different social backgrounds and that is a major cause of conflict.
In this version, that class difference is not clearly seen, and so the cause of conflict lacks that strong basis. Some of the minor characters are also deleted. It seems, in the final analysis, to be a poor vehicle for some very fine performers, who try valiantly to make something of it.
The rather stark, soulless set, by Małgorzata Szczęśniak, is a mixture of a tenpin bowling alley, above which is a futuristic, transparent hallway running transversely across the stage, a bath and a toilet at one end, and a pedestal hand basin at the other. This corridor is on wheels and can be moved closer to or further away from the audience. Downstage a little, on one side is a double bed and, on the other, a white leatherette settee, coffee table and some chrome framed kitchen chairs.
In the central role of Blanche, Isabelle Huppert works hard to create a believable character but that professed gentility and the awkward coquettishness of the original character, hiding her alcoholism, is replaced by a worldly wise woman who is more blatantly interfering and divisive in her dealings with Stanley and Stella. She gives the impression of being a drug addict more than an alcoholic, and perhaps this is the intention in this modernised version. She pushes Stanley, almost daring him to have sex with her in the rape scene. It seems as though she has instigated it deliberately. Huppert presents a complex character, lying, self-delusional and desperate for human contact, a badly flawed human being on the path to madness, but it is not the Blanche that one expects.
As Stanley, Andrzej Chyra gives a strong characterisation, but there is none of the raw power inherent in the original character. This Stanley is determined, a bully, and argumentative, but more educated and refined. The animal magnetism that drew Stella to him in the original is missing and there is little of the class division between him and Blanche that is at the base of their mutual dislike.
Blanche's sister, Stanley's pregnant wife, is Stella, played superbly by Florence Thomassin, whose character is probably nearest to the original, acting as a sort of referee and negotiator between Blanche and Stanley, constantly trying to cool the heated power play between the two.
Mitch is a friend of Stanley's who is attracted to Blanche, until Stanley reveals what he has heard about her recent past. Yann Collette plays Mitch who,in the 1947 version, would be rightly shocked by her promiscuity. With this modernised revision his reaction is more questionable. Since the 1960s there has been progressively more sexual freedom and the puritanical attitudes of Stanley and Mitch seem odd in the modern setting of this work.
Eunice is a minor character in the original version, a neighbour married to one of Stanley's bowling and poker playing friends. Here, she seems to be around quite a lot but, for some reason best known only to the director, Renate Jett, who plays the role, occasionally steps out of character and turns into a nightclub singer, belting out loud and rather long songs, and talking directly to the audience. Cutting out all of that nonsense could have reduced the terribly long night by quite a lot.
Another minor character who survived the adaptation is un jeune homme (a young man), played by Cristián Soto, whom Blanche tries to seduce when he visits the Kowalski's home while she is there alone.
There is certainly no chance of a Pulitzer Prize for this rehashed script that, rather than deconstruct the original play, retains most of the characters and their names and a general outline of the story, but takes it out of context and loses the gripping interactions of the characters. It is not entirely without merit. There is a fascinating set and there are some good performances, but this work missed the mark badly, not helped by the many technical issues mentioned above. It relies a little too much 'on the kindness of strangers'.
Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Arts Editor, Glam Adelaide.
Adelaide Festival – A Streetcar
Adelaide Festival Centre – A Streetcar
Venue: Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre, King William, Street, Adelaide
Season: to Sun 18th March 2012
Duration: 2hrs 35min (no interval)
Tickets: $30 to $129