National Theatre Live: A Streetcar Named Desire

Yesterday afternoon I was able to see a screening of the National Theatre Live production of A Streetcar Named Desire, filmed live in 2014 at the Young Vic in London, presented by the Tanner Humanities Center and Salt Lake Film Society.  I was blown away by this bold interpretation of the classic play by Tennessee Williams!  Blanche DuBois (Gillian Anderson) arrives unannounced at the New Orleans apartment of her sister Stella Kowalski (Vanessa Kirby) and tells her that she has lost Belle Reve, their ancestral home in Mississippi, and has taken a leave of absence from her teaching job.  She intends to stay for an indeterminate amount of time and this, along with her obvious disdain for the cramped apartment in a working class neighborhood, earns her the enmity of Stella's husband Stanley (Ben Foster).  The genteel Southern belle shows her contempt for the crude and often violent mechanic on a daily basis until he discovers that she is not quite as respectable as she pretends to be.  When Stanley ruins Blanche's chances with a new suitor (Corey Johnson), the two of them have a highly charged physical confrontation which forces Stella to choose between her sister and her husband.  This is over three hours long and I was completely riveted!  The most intriguing aspect of this production is the set because, not only is it very modern and minimalist (everything is a bright white and looks like it came from Ikea), it continually revolves which provides a 360 degree view of what is happening.  This staging allows the audience to see the characters during moments when they are not part of the action and this really emphasizes the claustrophobia of the Kowalski apartment.  It also gives a new perspective on the characters and I found them to be much more sympathetic than I usually do (especially when Stanley sits on the fire escape and overhears Blanche tell Stella to leave him and when Blanche soaks in the bathtub and overhears Stanley criticize her).  I think this was probably even more powerful live because the camera often dictates where the audience should look in the filmed version.  The three central performances are all outstanding but Anderson is absolutely brilliant because you can actually see moments of fragility behind the haughty exterior.  The scene when she comes undone in a ball gown, a rhinestone tiara, and smudged lipstick is very powerful but I found her expression when trying to summon her dignity before being led away by the doctor to be one of the most poignant things I've seen on stage (or screen).  My only criticism is that some of the anachronistic dialogue should have been cut to fit the more contemporary set, costumes, and music (I found the line about Edgar Allan Poe in reference to the Kowalski apartment to be incredibly incongruous).  I loved seeing this (I wish I could have seen it live) and I am looking forward to the upcoming National Theatre Live productions of Inter Alia on October 18 and Mrs. Warren's Profession on November 8 at the Broadway.