Melbourne Reviews

One of the most anticipated productions of the year, Melbourne Theatre Company’s A Streetcar Named Desire opened to a sold-out crowd breathless to witness Nikki Shiels take on the role of Blanche DuBois.

They weren’t disappointed, Shiels commanded the stage with the vigour and self-assuredness that she takes to every role. Her Blanche was a refreshing portrayal of the Southern Belle, as she hammed up the comedic moments, playing into the absurdities of the character. Shiels is a talented vocalist and does some impressive acrobatics that break the tension that hums beneath the surface of this eighty-year-old play.

It's somewhat of a marathon production, and despite the performers' pace, the energy dips. Given the play discusses some pretty uncomfortable topics; domestic violence, sexual abuse, mental illness and paedophilia, the text leans towards the awkward moments making for shifts in tone.

Shiels’ Blanche is joined by Michelle Lim Davidson as her baby sister Stella. This sweet and bubbly version of Stella lacks some substance, except in the moments of violence with her husband Stanley (Mark Leonard Winter) which are truly upsetting. Stella does seem to grapple between the two powerful forces in her life, unable to choose between her love for the emotionally manipulative Blanche or the physically intimidating Stanley. It’s this indecision that takes some of the wind out of Stella’s character and Lim Davidson is at her best when given moments of assertiveness.

Director Anne-Louise Sarks has clearly cast against character to give a new take on the classic Tennessee Williams work. Stanley plays more f-boy with mummy issues as he cries for Stella in a pitiful state while Steve Mouzakis’s “nice guy” Mitch, lands the ultimate betrayal, pulling the rug out from under Blanche with misogynistic precision.

At times the direction seems to spell out the text in an all too obvious way, the ghostly apparition of the flower seller (Veronica Peña Negrette) and the literal visual representation of Blanche’s young gay husband in the upstairs window were overt to say the least.

With everything leading up to the violent battle between Stanley and Blanche, his strength at the moment is diminished by Shiels’ Blanche. It’s almost as if she could overpower him if she wanted to, and her submission to him is a choice. She gives in and gives up.

Eighty years on and the text is as funny, shocking and heart-breaking as ever. The themes remain relevant to a 21st-century audience, and with a cast of actors of this calibre, this version of A Streetcar Named Desire could have really been something special. Unfortunately, it played into the stock-standard model of what Streetcar ‘should be’, a missed opportunity for a revolutionary upgrade to a classic.