Nearing 70 years from its debut, the themes of Tennessee Williams ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ remain relevant today.
Todd MacDonald, artistic director and CEO of the La Boite Theatre thinks it is vital for the iconic work to be revitalised.
“To be brutally honest, I think revisiting it again can impact audiences. When you read Tennessee Williams, his words just lift off the pages in the same way they must have done back in 1947.”
The play, immortalised into the public sphere for its characters Blanche, Stella and Stanley has taken on a life of its own. The gritty subtext of the drama – domestic violence, jealousy and anger – remains inescapable parts of the fragment of modern society.
“It felt really alive,” Todd says. “The dialogue felt vital and for me and contextualising this work nowadays in and around an environment where domestic violence is still a prevalent social issue, is really important for me.” Back in the day, Marlon Brando played the character of Stanley both in the play and film version a few years later.
“The nuances in his performance are flawless,” Todd says. “The unapologetic brutality of the character is really compelling and terrifying still. The major thing for me is we need to shine a light on domestic violence. We need to still be doing works that don’t glorify or make excuses for it but shine a light on its ugliness.”
Todd cut his teeth in Aussie TV staples ‘Neighbours’ and ‘The Secret Life Of Us’ before turning his hand to directing. Two of the actors in the revamped ‘Streetcar’ studied theatre with him, including Travis McMahon playing Stanley and Bridie Carter playing Blanche.
“It’s vital to get that chemistry right. Working with Bridie and Travis helped with that process because there’s a common language there. It’s always a balancing act with theatre. It’s such a collaborative teamwork. I guess the alchemy of directing theatre is to make sure you provide a scenario where you can stimulate the cast to be the best they can be and push them enough.”
Not long after the theatre's 90th birthday, Todd has stressed that the ethos of theatre coming out of La Boite are about diversity and it becomes apparent with the casting of this play.
“When you go into theatres, it’s like a whitewash, so it was important for us to make theatre work by hosting culturally diverse artists because a third of the population isn’t white. So I think we’re potentially missing the boat on audiences who want to come and see work because they don’t see themselves reflected on stage. There’s a very clear ethic in the company to get culturally diverse work in here.”
Indigenous actor Colin Smith plays the role of Mitch, Columbian actor Alex Forero plays Steve and Stella (any ‘Seinfeld’ fan will find it hard to forget that scene where Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ character Elaine drunkenly screams “Stella!!!”) is played by Ngoc Phan. The melting pot Todd has helped put together isn’t at odds with contemporary theatre. “We’ll keep it beautifully blending between then and now”, Todd assures. “We want it to have a timeless feel about it but we don’t want to antiquate it into ‘period’, rather I want to modernise it into the contemporary social class structures of Australia.”
Todd is also looking forward to the musical accompaniment provided by actress Kristal West, who along with Parmis Rose, both feature in the production as well as providing the score – with a difference. “To heighten the excitement of the event, we’ve got the band sitting literally in the audience! There’s a challenge of working in the round because the audience is on all sides and you’re not able to build those walls.”
This retake on ‘Streetcar’ stays true to its raw elements but also provides a contemporary approach to reach its audiences. It’s something Todd was conscious of.
“There’s no point in me trying to direct it as if it’s a perfect reproduction of Louisiana and New Orleans, and everyone doing perfect accents because that ‘others’ it, and makes it look like domestic violence isn’t our problem. That makes it look like we’re trying to pick up a historical piece of literature and stage it. The most important thing for me is to make it live, be alive and make it relevant today.”
