What makes this production exceptional is the unique theatre it was staged in, breathtaking and passionate performances, first-rate direction and exceptional production, sound and lighting designs.
It is the mission of The Young Vic Theatre to challenge story makers to stage a production as it has never been seen before, and give it a fresh and innovative makeover.
Visionary director Benedict Andrews, who returns to the Young Vic (following his Critics' Circle Award-winning production of Three Sisters), has taken the challenge to heart, and infuses the Streetcar we know with imaginative vigour, transforming it into a Streetcar we could never have imagined, and will most definitely not forget.
It is daring and takes this Pulitzer-winning play to its extreme, loading it with an invigorating dynamism, captivating dramatic sensuality, and inspired interpretations of traditional actions. The usual is transformed into unexpected surprises, and we experience the play as if it was written recently and not a half a century ago.
It also brings to the surface the dark humour and delightful subtextual inflictions in Williams' text, turning the tragic overtones into an empathetic journey that poignantly explores the human condition and fragile disposition of broken people.
With its loaded history stretching from the classic 1954 film version starring Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando, to decades of different productions since 1949, including UCT's superb rendition recently featuring Roelof Storm and Ella Gabriel, the Young Vic's A Streetcar Named Desire is a unique incarnation.
Originally set in a New Orleans with 'weathered buildings' and 'quaintly ornate gables' , this staging is contemporary with clean-cut open spaces and modern furnishings, strongly contrasting and amplifying Williams' highly poetic language and lyrical text.
What also makes this production exceptional is that it was staged in the round, with the set constantly revolving; it's as if the intimate world of the story becomes a planet, with the outside world constantly spinning around its axle.
The profound and lyrical plays of Tennessee Williams had an immeasurable effect on American theatre, A Streetcar Named Desire being one of the most influential of all.
As Blanche du Bois' fragile world crumbles, she turns to her sister Stella for solace - but her downward spiral brings her face to face with her sister's brutal-and-unforgiving husband, Stanley Kowalski.
Gillian Anderson is sublime as Blanche, delivering a performance that will blow you away, skilfully drawing us into the world of a wild-and-brittle woman in search of redemption and desperately trying to escape ghosts that haunt her from a tainted past, although most people remember Anderson for her portrayal of Special Agent Dana Scully on The X-Files. During the show's nine seasons, she won an Emmy, a Golden Globe and two SAG Awards.
Her performance in A Streetcar Named Desire marks her fourth appearance on the London stage. In 2009 she received an Olivier nomination for her performance as Nora in A Doll's House at the Donmar Warehouse. Prior to this she appeared in The Sweetest Swing In Baseball at the Royal Court, and made her West End debut in Michael Weller's What The Night Is For in 2002. On screen, her credits include Great Expectations, Bleak House (for which she received a BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe nomination), Any Human Heart (also BAFTA nominated), and, most recently, she played DSI Stella Gibson in BBC 2's psychological thriller, The Fall.
On the big screen, her numerous credits include The Mighty, Playing By Heart, The House of Mirth (for which she won a British Independent Film Award), The Last King of Scotland, A Cock and Bull Story, Boogie Woogie and Shadow Dancer.
Williams' larger-than-life Blanche in Streetcar needs a great adversary, and Ben Foster is equally magnificent as the beastly Kowalski in his first role on the London stage; he infuses Kowalski with a sensitive demeanour that gives the brutal character a sensitive edge. Foster also has a background in theatre and wowed audiences last year with his Broadway debut in a revival of Lyle Kessler's play, Orphans, opposite Alec Baldwin and Tom Sturridge. Foster's extensive film credits include the lead role of Lance Armstrong in Stephen Frears' film on the infamous cyclist, due to be released later this year. He made his film debut playing the lead in Barry Levinson's film Liberty Heights. On the small screen, he played Russell Corwin in HBO's Six Feet Under, was most recently seen on the big screen in Pete Berg's hit Lone Survivor, John Krokidas' Kill Your Darlings and David Lowery's critically acclaimed debut Ain't Them Bodies Saints. Other notable film credits include The Messenger, 360, Alpha Dog, Here, Contraband, X-Men: The Last Stand and 3:10 To Yuma.
Vanessa Kirby delivers an equally memorable performance as Stella, following her appearance in Benedict Andrews' acclaimed Three Sisters at the Young Vic in 2012. It also reunites her with Gillian Anderson, who starred opposite Kirby in the BBC adaptation of Great Expectations. Her past roles in theatre include Edward II and Women Beware Women (National Theatre), As You Like It (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and The Acid Test at the Royal Court, for which she received an Evening Standard Award nomination for Outstanding Newcomer in 2011. Vanessa was nominated in two consecutive years for the prestigious Ian Charleson Award. She has just finished filming Everest for director Baltasar Kormákur, and later this year cinema-goers can see her in Kill Command, John Boorman's Queen and Country with Brendan Gleeson, and the Wachowskis' Jupiter Ascending.
Director Benedict Andrews' luminous-and-vibrant A Streetcar Named Desire is amplified by Magda Willi's inventive production design, costumes by Victoria Behr, sound by Paul Arditti, music by Alex Baranowski and lighting by Jon Clark.
Andrews also directed a production of A Streetcar Named Desire in Berlin in 2009, and received a Critics' Circle Best Director Award for his production of Three Sisters at the Young Vic in 2012.His past work in the UK also includes The Return of Ulysses (Young Vic/ENO), Gross und Klein starring Cate Blanchett (Barbican), Caligula (ENO) and The Eternity Man (Almeida Opera).
As former resident director of Sydney Theatre Company (2001-2003), his productions there included Jean Genet's The Maids, Martin Crimp's Attempts on Her Life, the multi-award-winning The Season at Sarsaparilla, and a spectacular eight-hour staging of The War of the Roses.
This filmed National Theatre Live broadcast also allows us to experience a production that was filmed on 16 September this year, giving those who could not see it in London, an opportunity to experience it in a cinema near them. This production is National Theatre Live's first collaboration with the Young Vic Theatre. National Theatre Live performances are broadcast via satellite, both live and time delayed, to over 1100 venues in over 40 different countries around the world, including South Africa, which will screen the evening production filmed 'live' from the theatre on 16 September.
You simply cannot miss the NT Live screening of A Streetcar Named Desire. Chances are that you will definitely book your seat for the next screening.
A Streetcar Named Desire is screened on 22 and 23 October at 7.30pm at Cinema Nouveau theatres in Joburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town. Bookings are now open, and the running time of this production is 3hrs and 45mins, with a 20-minute interval.
For booking information on A Streetcar Named Desire, go to www.cinemanouveau.co.za or sterkinekor.mobi, or call our Ticketline on 0861-Movies (668 437). Follow on Twitter @nouveaubuzz and on Facebook at Cinema Nouveau. You can also download the Ster-Kinekor App on any Nokia, Samsung Android, iPhone or Blackberry smart phone for updates, news and to book.
Two readers in Cape Town and Joburg can win tickets to see A Streetcar Named Desire on 23 October. To enter, go to www.writingstudio.co.za.
