Crucible Theatre, Sheffield – until March 29th 2025
Review by Sharon Farley
5*****
Tennessee Williams’ gritty tale of 1940’s New Orleans life is as popular as ever and played to a packed house in Sheffield. Despite the dark themes of desperation, domestic violence and mental fragility running through it, a few humorous moments filtered into the first half via Blanche DuBois’ (Joanna Vanderham) coquettish insistence that she ‘hardly touches a drop’ every time the liquor bottle appears. But it soon becomes as apparent that Blanche’s relationship with Southern Comfort, along with her delusions, are a necessary cushion against the harsh reality of her current existence.
Born into the privilege of the big house on a plantation, Blanche’s fortunes have crumbled leaving her adrift in a difficult landscape that she is scarcely equipped to navigate. She resorts to seeking shelter with her sister, Stella (Amara Okereke). Evocative jazz-blues piano and the lounging of Stella’s neighbours, played by Bridgette Amofah (Cowbois, Sandman, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two) and Lia Burge (Crying Into Bins, Spiderfly, FREAK), sensuously invoke the atmosphere of a steamy New Orleans’ summer, setting the scene for Blanche’s arrival. The delicate sensitivities of the elegant but pretentious Blanche are immediately cast in stark contrast and we can almost feel the grime soiling her shoes as she turns her nose up at the idea her own sister might live there, humorously sniping that “Only Poe could do it justice!”
Inserting Blanche into the narrow confines of the ground-floor apartment Stella shares with her potent husband, Stanley Kowalski (Jake Dunn), means tolerance of each other doesn’t stand a chance. Kowalski considers Blanche a burden and resents the fact she doesn’t capitulate to the dominance of his raw masculinity. The harshness of Blanch’s life has brought her to favour men who are soft, sensitive and malleable, like Kowalski’s friend, Mitch (Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong), who is soon entranced by the well-practiced spell of Blanche’s cultured femininity. She has learned that, in her world, a woman’s worth rests on her looks and ‘shimmer’, and has used this to her advantage; but this also has a sell-by date that, for Blanche, is fast approaching. Mitch is the last chance that Blanche is hoping to grasp to secure against an uncertain future, but Kowalski begins digging up her past and poisons the water between them.
Stanley resents Blanche’s criticisms of him that begin creating conflict in his marriage, though it’s clear he is in no way a gentle partner to Stella, who is enthralled by his passionate desire for her. In Stella’s absence, Blanche’s branding of Kowalski as an animal is confirmed as he menacingly crawls towards her on all fours, imposing his violent nature in the worst way.
The portrayal of this pivotal scene is a delicate balance on the open stage, where the suggestiveness of a camera cut-away isn’t possible and the graphic nature of the attack is perhaps too brutal to play realistically. The drama here is a little too diluted; though Blanche stands exposed and vulnerable, the scene lacks a solid connection with the implied violence. However, this is the sole weakness in an otherwise brilliant production.
Josh Seymour’s (Spend Spend Spend, Romeo and Juliet, Musik) direction using the revolving stage as a base is well timed and brings the sweltering heat and male dominance of the Deep South into sharp relief. The clever set design (Frankie Bradshaw) simultaneously depicts the claustrophobic nature of 623 Elysian Fields Avenue, whilst also allowing room for the intense action to play out. Delicate lighting effects (Howard Harrison) beautifully illustrate the change from day to night that is central to Blanche’s beguiling of Mitch. Costume design is fluid, glamorous and practical for the multiple on stage changes, particularly for Blanche, to whom clothes are the passion that masks her insecurities.
Vanderham’s (Double Feature, Outrageous, What Maisie Knew) blistering portrayal of Blanche grants enormous dignity to a woman who has had to fight for survival, but is rapidly losing the battle and has her sanity finally shattered by a man who, even as he wins the power struggle between them, cannot resist a last symbolic cruelty. Dunn (Kes, Renegade Nell, Big Boys) believably plays a macho Kowalski with disturbing menace. Okereke’s (Les Misérables, The Morning After, Red Rose) cries as Stella realises she will be eternally caught in the fallout from their crossfire are chilling, and express the impossibility of women’s dependence when their freedoms are limited.