‘Streetcar’ pulls into Wells Theater

By: Kyle Christensen
Features Editor

As senior Greg Malak stumbles about in drunken disorderly behavior, his closest friends and neighbors have rushed from his side, fearing the abusive, alcohol-guzzling monstrosity that is about to emerge. He lumbers about under the guise of a tough and gritty demeanor, though a pained expression escapes onto his face, and despite his near six-foot-tall height and muscular body frame, all eyes around him are witnessing the man at one of his weakest moments. With his last dwindling ounce of fierce determination, he belts out into the air that one barely audible name, haunted by a visceral undertone of intermixed insecurity and brooding intensity: “Stella! Stella! Stella!!!”

Audiences this weekend will become witnesses to that stirring scene and much more in the sensationalized production of Douglas Rankin’s latest directorial effort, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” presented tonight, Oct. 27 and Saturday, Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 29 at 2 p.m.

Starring Malak as the notorious working-class lothario Stanley Kowalski, the show features a supporting cast of more than a dozen individuals, most notably sophomore John Wells as Mitch (Kowalski’s sensitive and misunderstood pal in their gang of downtrodden poker buddies), freshman Kayt Griffith as Stella Kowalski (Stanley’s much battered and psychologically frail wife) and freshman Renee Emery as Blanche DuBois (Stella’s sister and former sexual deviant whose visit with the couple compels Stanley to succumb to his most decadent and animalistic impulses).

The play itself has upheld a long and lucrative theatrical history. Aside from winning author Tennessee Williams both a New York Critics Circle Award and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948, the show garnered Jessica Tandy a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for the original stage version, and was later adapted into a 1951 Elia Kazan film, which has been ranked #45 by the American Film Institute’s “Top 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time” and scored Oscars in the categories of Best Actress, Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Vivian Leigh, Karl Malden and Kim Hunter, respectively, on top of receiving an overall total of 12 Academy Award nominations.

The show has been revived 13 times in the latter half of the 20th century (including two balletic and operatic interpretations), with big-name celebrities such as Christopher Walken, Sigourney Weaver, Aidan Quinn, Alec Baldwin, Jessica Lange, Gary Sinise and Glenn Close headlining in locations ranging from New York, London, Chicago, San Francisco and even New Orleans, the centralized city where the fictionalized crises of the play unfold.

Tickets for this Crimson Masque fall debut may be purchased at the door or reserved beforehand if still available (contact theater@monm.edu for further details). Patrons are warned that this particular show deals with graphic subject matter and may only be appropriate for mature audience members.