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Barbara Loots
The latest offering from LAMTA (Luitingh Alexander Musical Theatre Academy) is A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, Tennessee William’s beloved classic. It is onstage at Theatre on the Bay until 24 August 2024. A cast of talented students are joined by award-winning actress, Emily Child, who shares with us her thoughts on the process of unpacking this gem of a play.
A STREETCAR NAMES DESIRE tells the story of Blanche DuBois, a fading Southern belle who, after losing the family home moves to the French Quarter, in a gritty 1940s New Orleans, to live with her sister, Stella. In her thirties and now penniless, she is jittery, judgemental, and duplicitous. She criticises Stella's shabby flat and finds her husband Stanley to be common and uncouth. He in turn is suspicious of Blanche and overtly resents her presence and condescending manner. The play is a fine showcase of Tennessee Williams' mastery in the way it explores human emotions through complex characters.
The play was first performed in 1947, addressing issues of gender-based-violence (specifically domestic violence) and toxic masculinity at that time already. As society still struggles with Issues surrounding abusive power relationships in intimate partnerships, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE remains ever relevant. Apart from the obvious rage pulsating throughout the play, Child finds that elements of longing, passion and love also give the play a timeless sense: “I think these are themes that appeal to all humans, always”.
Even with those ever-relevant themes, the play remains of its time: “The backdrop of post-war 1947 heightens the unpredictability of the plays characters and the humour that they use to survive trying times. This play is as funny as it is moving.” One of those characters is the frantically zestful Blanche DuBois, who stands central to all that happens in the play. Along with Stelle, the sisterly duo drives the narrative as the constant relationship in a sea of moving emotional parts.
Out of these two sisters, it is Blanche who cuts a tragic figure as an utterly flawed character with her haunting past and related need to escape reality. Child finds "desire" to be Blanche's most tragic flaw. That desire is multi-layered one. Yes, there is the obvious flirtatious element, but also the desire to be someone-else, the desire to escape, the desire to be saved, and the desire to feel wanted. Within that nuanced understanding of desire, you first meet Blanche when she is desperately trying to exude a youthful flirtatious innocence, but that facade gradually darkens into a panic-stricken need to be wanted by someone because of a sense of mutual necessity and comfort. Ultimately, she reveals a distraught sense of desire, triggered by memories of her sexual promiscuity and prowess, the part of her character that she escaped to when the cynical world devoured her virtue in the midst of the tragic suicide of the love of her life. But amidst all the desire, Child also appreciates the magic that Blanche's character holds in putting a light-hearted spin on things that could otherwise be overwhelming. It is for this reason that Child particularly loves Blanche’s sense of humour: “Blanche is hilarious!”
With Blanche being such a colourful character it is then no surprise that this is a classic role that actors aspire to play. Child is no exception. She jumped at the opportunity to sink her teeth into the very appealing, utterly flawed, dramatic persona of Blanche, who she keenly engaged with through the brilliantly crafted text of Tennessee Williams:
“I loved how every time I read the play I understood it differently. Tennessee Williams is sneaky in that there are secrets about characters and the human condition hidden in the play that you only discover after a fifth or sixth read. I wanted to find a way to share these insights with audiences. This play changes the temperature of a room, and I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to affect people through the character of Blanche – to leave audiences in love but also uneasy.”
With this clear understanding of how Williams shaped Blanche as the emotional catalyst in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, Child has also managed to make the character her own, whilst avoiding cliches and trope traps. “I have tried to ignore the conventional interpretation of a ‘Southern Belle’”, she explains, as she preferred to “focus on Blanche's wit and courage as opposed to only her vulnerability”.
This role actually fits right into Child’s performance wheelhouse, as she is known as an actor who likes tackling verbose plays. Tennessee Williams’ florid language sets a high barre for any actor, which Child with great skill easily clears, as she loves theatre that keeps you guessing, and that type of theatre is more often than not rooted in dense texts: “Each time you watch and listen you get a chance to pick up something different about the story. I never get bored in wordy plays as they keep me very much on my toes!”
Child shares that she engaged with Tennessee Williams’s nuanced text with great enthusiasm, diving head-first into the play, all the while trusting that the well-crafted words would take her and the character to where the play needed them to be: “I have read, and re-read, and re-read again. I have leaned into what Tennessee was trying to tell us, as his audience and I hope I can do his writing justice.”
In stepping into the shoes of Blanche, Child is also reconnecting with director Chris Weare, with whom she has a long collaborative history, most notably dating back to her years as part of the acting troupe, The Mechanicals. Child has loved working on this project with him again:
“The man seems to get younger every time that I work with him! He has boundless energy! There is no one who loves theatre and loves teaching as much as Chris and he is a joy to work with! He is open and collaborative. He is focused and passionate but never takes himself too seriously. Chris is a very generous director and I have loved every minute of working with him again.”
Another familiar face in this collaborative process is designer extraordinaire, Niall Griffin. Child has worked with him on theatre productions such as The Hucksters, Nocturn and most recently Dinner with the 42s. It is with great enthusiasm that she does so again. Griffin’s design vision for A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, truly excites Child, as it creates an authentic feeling world onstage that transports the audience to that gritty New Orleans of the past, while also allowing Blanche to look absolutely dazzling in exquisitely crafted custom-made dresses.
“Niall has created a masterpiece”, Child elaborates. “The detail and texture and care on every item of set and prop is unlike any production I have ever worked on. He has designed an entire clothing line for Blanche, inspired by vintage Dior and it is exquisite. Niall is the best you get and every world he creates is visceral, iconic and unforgettable.”
This current staging of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE is also a collaboration of Child as a seasoned professional with the talented students of LAMTA. When asked how this process has been, Child exclaims, “I have loved it!”
“I was welcomed into the cast so warmly and I feel very much at home! The students are incredibly hard working, efficient and talented! They are focused and they put the work first. They are excellent at what they do, and their work is of an extremely high professional standard.”
She also has the great luck of teaching at LAMTA, so this process has given her the opportunity to experience how much the students have grown to tackle the very technical and difficult roles penned by Tennessee Williams. Having observed this, Child unequivocally believes that “these students are ready for the industry.”
“They have grown in so many ways but mainly it has been beautiful to watch their confidence grow. They are so good at their jobs! They deserve all the work in the world! I hope that they fully realise that!”
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE then so reveals itself as a great teaching tool to get young performers ready for a career in the industry. Child agrees as she thinks the production provides for teachable moments on many levels:
“Firstly there is the period element (1947.) It requires and great deal of research and understanding and, in my opinion, this play can’t be successful without an in-depth understanding of the time and the mannerisms of the time. Then there is the challenge of the text! The rich and complex text! This play teaches text analysis in such a wonderful way. And then there is the challenge of the words in the body! The challenge of getting this beautiful writing out, clearly and audibly! And then there is the emotional trajectories of these characters. This play teaches actors to craft their individual stories in collaboration with the rest of the cast and in an extremely specific technical set and environment. It's a massive challenge for all of us! There is so much to learn from Tennessee Williams, and we are learning something new every day.”
Audiences have until 24 August 2024 to get to Theatre on the Bay to see the LAMTA presented A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, Tennessee Williams' electrifying drama directed by the renowned Professor Chris Weare and starring guest artist Emily Child as Blanche DuBois. Tickets can be booked online through Webtickets.
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