A Streetcar Named...satisfaction

HAH. What a cheesy headline. I should write for a trashy newspaper.

Last night I went to see 'A Streetcar Named Desire' at the Nuffield Theatre with school. I totally enjoyed it and I was impressed with almost every aspect. It was met with some mixed reactions from my class but I think people were a bit harsh on the cast and designers simply 'cos our expectations were too high. Some of us were expecting performances to rival Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando but those two were so perfect for the roles and such legends that I don't think anyone will ever live up to them.

The set was really good considering it had to incorporate the outside, upstairs, and downstairs of the little flat in New Orleans. But...Blanche was brunette. It took us a good half hour to get our heads round that'un. It seemed to contradict Williams image of her. In his stage directions she is described as a moth, white, pure, fragile, dressed head to toe in white. The director pretty much ignored all of that and dressed her in a tailored outfit on her first entrance which, instead of enhancing her delicacy, made her seem harsh and angular.

Stanley, Blanche and Stella were all fantastic, despite a few lapses in their accents. I absolutely love the play because it's so full of passion and, inevitably, desire. In the audience there was an annoying group of people who decided that watching a woman being destroyed and violated and watching a man struggle with his fury was absolutely hilarious. They actually laughed. Out loud. Idiots.

Exams are rubbish. Someone should call up that lot up in the houses of common and ask them to abolish exams altogether. Only one thing is saving my sanity at the moment - the prospect of being able to retake them all in January! Ha.

Hugs all round