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Tennessee William's painful reminder of
the ways in which we delude ourselves to find meaning in the
world or even just to stay sane, is back at the National Theatre.
"A Streetcar Named Desire", a lavish production
directed by Trevor Nunn, stars the latest Hollywood Big Name
to indulge in live performance to a London audience: Glenn
Close.
Yes, that's Glenn Close who many of us will remember as Cruella
deVille or the vengeful mistress in "Fatal Attraction".
So she doesn't seem like the obvious choice to play Williams'
unstable and vulnerable Blanche duBois. But whilst she cannot
match the fragility that some actresses have brought to the
role, the casting is not as unlikely as one might think. When
she arrives at the (beautifully designed) New Orleans tenement
slum where her sister Stella, and husband, Stanley, live,
but you sense that her Blanche is strong enough to unsettle
Stella and inspire rebellion, were she to go about it in a
different way.
The sisterly similarities between Blanche and Stella (Essie
Deans) are very apparent in this production. Both clearly
have strong sexual appetites and Stella has been fortunate
enough to find satisfaction in her husband, Stanley (Iain
Glen - not as brutish as one might hope). Stella's and Stanley's
marriage may be one of those that trouble outsiders - we partly
share Blanche's bafflement that Stella would return to Stanley
after he attacks her - but we also know how strong the relationship
is. We can only wince at Blanche's arch comments and flirtatious
manner with Stanley, knowing that such behaviour only irritates
and appears patronising, rather than charming.
However, Blanche's inappropriate behaviour is also, rather
unusually, a source of comedy in this production; one also
senses that she herself realises how ridiculous she can sometimes
seem. Glenn Close's performance reminds us that Blanche does
have intelligence, charm and grace, and that she could indeed
be a valuable companion for the right person. The more we
find out of Blanche's history, her marriage to a man who cannot
respond to her physical needs (he was gay) and her search
for love, the more we understand and pity her clinging to
the idea of herself as a cultured, refined lady.
In real life, of course, we rarely find out so much about
a person and often make judgements - as the other characters
do - based on their external behaviour, without any allowances.
One cannot entirely blame Stanley or Blanche's suitor, Mitch,
for the way they respond to some of her behaviour, even before
they find out about her history. But the tension and resolution
when Stanley and Blanche are finally left alone is as shocking
as ever.
It is left up to Stella to show the most pity, overcoming
her repulsion at the truth of Blanche's history, even if she
can no longer help her. Torn between love for husband and
baby, and a desire to help Blanche, she is forced to let her
sister once more "depend on the kindness of strangers"
and be taken away. For once, rather than feeling relief at
Blanche's departure and the restoration of 'normality', I
was left wondering what would become of Stella and Stanley,
and if Blanche hadn't indirectly succeeded in changing Stella's
attitude to her husband forever...
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