THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHREYER HONORS COLLEGE

SCHOOL OF THEATRE

PRODUCING TENNESSEE WILLIAMS’ A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, A PROCESS FOR DIRECTING A PLAY WITH NO REFUND THEATRE

J. SAMUEL HORVATH Spring, 2010

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for a baccalaureate degree

in Finance with honors in Theatre

Reviewed and approved* by the following:

Matthew Toronto Assistant Professor of Theatre Thesis Supervisor Annette McGregor Professor of Theatre Honors Adviser

* Signatures are on file in the Schreyer Honors College.

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ABSTRACT This document chronicles the No Refund Theatre production of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire. A non-profit, student organization, No Refund Theatre produces a show nearly every weekend of the academic year. Streetcar was performed February 25th, 26th, and 27th, 2010 and met with positive feedback. This thesis is both a study of Streetcar as a play, and a guide for directing a play with No Refund. It is divided into three sections. First, there is an analysis Tennessee Williams’ play, including a performance history, textual analysis, and character analyses. Second, there is a detailed description of the process by which I created the show. And finally, the appendices include documentation and notes from all stages of the production, and are essentially my directorial promptbook for Streetcar. Most importantly, embedded in this document is a video recording of our production of Streetcar, divided into three “acts.” I hope that this document will serve as a road-map for future directors in No Refund Theatre, and provide a template for how to approach directing a show.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………...i Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………………………………iii Background…………………………………………………………………………………………1 No Refund Theatre……………………………………………………….………………..2 Tennessee Williams……………………………………………………………………….4 A Streetcar Named Desire Analysis……………………………………………...…………………5 Production History……………………………………………………..………………….6 Textual Analysis…………………………………………………..………………………9 Character Analyses………………………………………………………………………22 Vision……………………………………………………………………………………………...31 Process………………………………………………………………….………………………….33 Proposal……………………………………………………….………………………….34 Auditions/Casting………………………………………………………………………..36 Budget……………………………………………………………………………………36 Set Design………………………………………………………………………………..37 Rehearsal Process………………………………………………….……………………..37 Lighting Design…………………………………………………...……………………..39 Sound Design…………………………………………………………………………….41 Promotion……………………………………………………….………………………..44 Production Stills……………………………………………….…………………………47 Retrospective………………………………………………………………………………………53 Appendices………………………………………………………………………………………..57

Appendix A: Budget……………………….………………………..………………58 Appendix B: Props and Costumes Lists……………………………………....…….61 Appendix C: Set Design……………………………..…………...…………………65 Appendix D: Rehearsal Schedule………………………………..………………….67 Appendix E: Program and Poster…………………………………………….……..69 Appendix F: Set Change Schedule………………………………………………….72

Bibliography Academic Vita

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Streetcar has been a defining moment in my theatrical career. Indeed, it was my directorial debut, but more than that, it carried with it a newfound appreciation for the art. Studying Tennessee Williams and pouring over a script as I never had before rejuvenated my love for theatre, as a spectator or participant. Of course, theatre is a labor of love, and a truly collaborative effort. This entire process, (and in fact my graduating with honors from the Pennsylvania State University) would not have been possible without the help from a network of faculty, students, friends and family. Special thanks go out to Prof. Annie McGregor, who helped me decide on a topic and direction for my thesis project, Prof. Pat Trimble, who encouraged me to take on a piece like Streetcar, and who has helped keep a place for student run theatre at Penn State, and Prof. Matt Toronto, who acted as my supervisor on this production. Matt, you helped give me a process for reading a script, planning a show, and attended rehearsals providing notes and feedback both on the show itself and my directorial technique. I owe the success of my maiden voyage in large part to following your lead. A special thanks to Johnna Scrabis, who allowed me to Assistant Direct under her, and who has made four years of theatre a pleasure and a privilege. Thanks also to the No Refund Theatre Show Selection Committee, for granting me the chance to produce this show, and giving me such an ideal time-slot. Perhaps most importantly, thank you to the cast and crew of Streetcar. Juliann, Matt, Johnna, and Jason, you guys were tremendous in approaching your roles and rehearsals professionally, and you each put a stamp of your own on the characters and made them truthful. I couldn’t be prouder. Sincere thank you also to Locutus of Borg, my love for you will never diminish or subside. And lastly, Mom and Dad, thanks for your support in my theatrical endeavors since I donned the yellow stockings of Malevolio in 6th grade. With every production I’ve done, seeing the pride in your eyes has made me strive to do more, and has been the driving force behind my endless journey into this art.

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BACKGROUND

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No Refund Theatre No Refund Theatre is a student organization at the Pennsylvania State University. It is a club which produces between 15 and 20 plays per academic year, or nearly one every weekend that school is in session. Shows are free to attend, though donations from patrons are encouraged. Each show generally performs three times, on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday. For three performances, the average show will attract approximately 250 to 400 audience members through the weekend. The shows are performed out of the lecture hall 111 Forum, which seats 363 students. Each director is granted one to two weeks in room 111 to rehearse immediately preceding his or her show. Every show uses the same flats, lighting equipment, and major props (such as furniture pieces). It is therefore one of the main challenges of every director to differentiate his or her set from other shows that the club has produced. Speaking of Challenges… Differentiation is not the only challenge an No Refund director faces. Because the club puts all shows up for free, there are strict budgetary restrictions. The club depends mostly on funding from the University Park Allocation Committee, or UPAC, here at Penn State. UPAC scrutinizes the proposed budgets from the club closely before ever granting funds. Beyond that, a production must store its entire set and lighting rig in a storage closet in the basement of the Forum building every night. The closet is approximately 7 feet wide and 20 feet deep. With such spatial limitations, a director cannot have a large and complicated set, unless it is able to be dismantled and stacked in an orderly fashion each night. Finally, because No Refund is a student run club whose main membership comes from undergraduate, non-theatre majors, who are interested in acting, the club does not have a large tech-crew. Many students would prefer to act, and rarely volunteer to help set up and tear down each night. This problem is compounded by the limited tech equipment we have. Most students interested in the technical side of theatre do not take an interest in No Refund because our set up is so basic and does not give them much variety or experience with new equipment. Requirements for Directing In order to direct with No Refund Theatre, a student must first be an active member of the club, which means attending one general or director’s meeting that semester, and being involved in at least one production. The member must then Assistant Direct one show, and crew one show, to gain experience of how a No Refund show works. Finally, the potential director must complete a tech-training session to learn the club’s equipment. Once these tasks are completed, a director need only propose a show, and be granted a weekend. During the semester of a director’s show, he or she is required to attend all weekly director’s meetings, or face losing slush funding. General Flow of a Show Once a director has selected a cast from the No Refund auditions (a process described in more detail later), the production begins rehearsals. Usually within a week or two of casting, the director gathers with the cast to hold a table-read of the script, to acquaint all the actors with the dialogue, the plot, and each other. After the read-through, rehearsals begin in earnest with blocking rehearsals, followed by full runs of the acts or the entire show. These rehearsals, along with the table read, are generally held in the Willard Building. As mentioned above, due to No Refund’s busy schedule, a director usually only gets to spend the week of his or her show in Forum. Because Willard has large classrooms with movable desks, a No Refund play grabs a room and arranges a make-shift set for rehearsal purposes. When the week of the show finally arrives, the production moves in to Forum. Holding load-in on Sunday, the production takes the props and furniture needed from the club’s larger storage space in Atherton Hall and moves them to the closet in Forum. Sunday is usually designated as the one day for set-building as well. The cast re-paints the flats, and builds any props or set-pieces necessary for the show.

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Often no rehearsing takes place on Sunday, except for perhaps a line-through. The rest of the week’s technical rehearsals, “hell-week” as No Refund-ers lovingly call it, is a full week of dress rehearsals while building and tearing down the set every night. Lighting and sound are tested and set through the week, and Monday night of hell week is usually the first time lights are even set up. The actors in No Refund Theatre truly have to be Jacks and Jills of all trades, comfortable with painting, building, hanging lights, and cleaning up. Because of restrictions on No Refund’s use of Forum, painting must always be done outside of the building. Even in February, as was the case with Streetcar. It is certainly an exhausting process, and requires a level of dedication that one would not expect from undergraduates with different majors and their own studies to worry about. However, it is a labor of love, and in 15 years, the club has seen production quality and pace, as well as membership steadily increase.

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Tennessee Williams Tennessee Williams was born Thomas Lanier Williams on March 26, 1911 to Cornelius Coffin and Edwina Dakin Williams in Columbus Mississippi. Cornelius was a traveling shoe salesman, and the family lived with Thomas’ maternal grandparents for several years. The middle child, Tom had an elder sister, Rose, and a younger brother, Walter. (Adler, xi) Rose would later suffer from schizophrenia and undergo a pre-frontal lobotomy in 1939 which would leave her mentally paralyzed for the rest of her life. (Adler, xii). Many scholars have suggested that Rose is the inspiration for many of Williams’ hysterically fragile heroines, including Blanche DuBois. The family moved around a lot, and Tom took an interest in writing and poetry from an early age. In St. Louis, where Tom’s father had found a permanent job as a manager of the shoe company, Tom was noted for being introverted and shy. Cornelius would tease Tom for his interests, calling him Miss Nancy. Tom won his first prize as a writer coming in third place with his essay “Can a Good Wife Be a Good Sport?” which was published in Smart Set in 1927. He attended the University of Missouri in 1929 where he won honorable mention in a contest as a freshman for Beauty is the Word. (Adler, xi) After being pulled out of school by his father for failing ROTC, Tom would work in a shoe warehouse before returning to school at Washington University, St. Louis in 1936. (Adler, xii) Tom would first become “Tennessee” in 1939 when he penned the story “The Field of Blue Children,” under that name. (Adler, xii) After years working as an usher in New York and as a screenwriter in Los Angeles, Tennessee Williams made his Broadway debut with the critically acclaimed The Glass Menagerie in 1944. Menagerie would won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle, Donaldson, and Sidney Howard Memorial Awards. (Adler, xiii) Williams later gave half of his royalties from Menagerie to his mother. Following the success of Menagerie, Williams would go on to write many more Broadway and critical successes including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Sweet Bird of Youth, Night at the Iguana, and of course, Menagerie’s immediate successor, 1947’s A Streetcar Named Desire. Streetcar won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was produced by Irene Mayer Selznick, directed by Elia Kazan, and starred Jessica Tandy, Karl Malden, Kim Stanley, and which introduced Marlon Brando. The show also won the New York Critics’ Circle and Donaldson awards. The show ran for 885 performances and was Williams’ longest running play. (Adler, xiii) In 1947, Williams also began his long-term relationship with Frank Merlo, a Navy officer from World War II. The two lived together until Merlo’s death of cancer in 1963. This period is often viewed as Williams’ most productive and most fruitful. However, after Merlo’s death, Williams entered what he calls his “stoned age,” a period of depression that lasted several years. (Adler, xv) In the period between 1963 until his death in 1983, Williams published several collections of poems and had a few more plays produced on Broadway or in Chicago. However, none of these works lived up to the successes of his youth. Tennessee Williams died on either the 24th or 25th of February, 1983, reportedly choking on the cap from a bottle of eyedrops. (Adler, xvii) Rather than being buried at sea next to Hart Crane, one of his literary inspirations, as he wished, Williams was buried in St. Louis, next to his parents. In February of 2010, it was released that Williams’ death was actually cased by an overdose of alcohol and barbituates in his system, and that the coroner in 1983 had created the eyedrop cap story out of respect for Williams.

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A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE ANALYSIS

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Production History Broadway Debut Following the monumental success of his Broadway debut, The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams struggled tremendously while attempting to write his next play. He was living in New York at the time, out of a ritzy hotel room spending time at parties and drinking. He gradually fell out of contact with his family and friends, and came to resent the success and all the phony accolades he felt came with it. (Williams, New York Times article) However, after an eye surgery restored his vision (he had been a long sufferer of a cataract in his left eye), Williams decided that an escape from his newfound celebrity was just what he needed to reignite his creative fire. Williams moved to Mexico, where he was little known and where Menagerie was relatively unheard of. There, he wrote a short one act, The Poker Night, which he would continually expand and eventually turn into A Streetcar Named Desire. (Williams, New York Time article) Opening in December 1947, at Broadway’s Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Streetcar embarked on its 855 performances through December 1949. This is the longest run seen by any of Williams’ plays in his very successful career. The show featured the direction of Elia Kazan in his first collaboration with Williams. The two would later work together on the 1951 film version of Streetcar, and on the Broadway debut of Williams’ next play, 1955’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. (In his note of introduction to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Edward Albee revealed that Kazan actually played a major role in structuring Cat and is responsible for Big Daddy’s return in Act III). Producer Irene Selznick put together what became the most enviably collaborative production teams to that date. Beyond Kazan, who was celebrated for bringing Streetcar to life and using the show to help pioneer the new style of stylized realism, was Jo Mielziner (production designer) and Alex North (composer). Mielziner created a revolutionary set for Streetcar, managing to create both an apartment interior, and a street-side exterior without having to move any pieces. The walls of the Kowalski apartment were created using scrims, which heightened the sense of the Kowalski poverty with their crudely painted angles and lines. When lit from the front, with mismatched and broken furniture pieces decorating the apartment, the audience was given a sense of entering a nightmarish, poor apartment in New Orleans. But to give audiences insight into Blanche’s mental state, as well as to allow characters to be seen on the street behind the apartment, the scrim could be backlit with different colored lights to provide an eerie view through the translucent walls. Along with varying his lighting arrangements for each character, and providing each lead with a personal, soft spot-light, Mielziner created the perfect blend of realism and fantasy to match Williams’ psycho-drama. (Kolin, 12-16) Alex North further helped heighten the reality of the show by writing music that catered specifically to Blanche and Stanley’s personalities. Using a four-man jazz ensemble which played out of a dressing room backstage, North created the trumpet bursts and bright, energized jazz which “came from” the Four Deuces saloon around the corner and which helped define Stanley. Further, North utilized the same musicians to play the Varsouvianna, which ran periodically in Blanche’s mind as she descended to madness, and wrote softer, blues pieces which matched her emotional descent through the show. (Kolin, 16-18) The success of Streetcar was further fueled by a revolutionary performance by actor Marlon Brando. Making his Broadway debut, Brando, who had studied at The Actor’s Studio in Los Angeles delivered a realistic, energetic, and intense performance as the brutish and violent Stanley Kowalski. Brando would go on to be known as the foremost “method” actor, who truly inhabited his roles throughout his career. The combination of talent, along with the unparalleled collaboration between the director, writer, producer, designer, composer, and cast made Streetcar the pinnacle of production up to its time, and ushered in a new team-based method of creating plays for Broadway audiences. And the success of this team did not go unnoticed. The show won Williams the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and won actress Jessica Tandy, who portrayed Blanche in the original Broadway debut a Tony Award for Best Actress. Other adaptations of the play include the iconic 1951 film version, also directed by Kazan, a 1952 ballet, and a 1984 television version directed by John Erman and starring Treat Williams and Ann-Margaret and a 1995 teleplay with Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange.

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Film In 1951, Warner Brothers released the most famous version of Streetcar, a film directed by Elia Kazan. The film was shot from a screenplay by Oscar Saul, which he wrote with the help Williams. Much of the film’s success can be attributed to Warners’ ability to regain most of the original Broadway cast. Among the lead actors, only Jessica Tandy was replaced as Blanche by Vivien Leigh, who had originated the role in the London stage production. The film won 5 Academy Awards, including awards for Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter, and Karl Malden. (Kolin, 153) Marlon Brando, whose performance electrified audiences in New York was even more intense on screen. However, he was noticeably the only member of the leading cast who did not win an Oscar for his on-screen portrayal of Stanley. The Oscar went instead to Humphrey Bogart in African Queen. (Kolin, 151) For all its successes, the film was not without its flaws. Much of Williams’ original play had to be cut out of the film for censorship reasons. Most notably, any reference to Blanche’s first husband being gay were removed. He was instead referred to as “weak” and “tender.” Among other changes required by the Production Code Administration (PCA) were the toning down of Stanley and Blanche’s sexuality, and the requirement that Stanley be somehow punished for raping Blanche. The film accomplishes this by having Stella leave Stanley at the film’s conclusion. (Kolin, 151) The film was so hampered by these changes, that many first-time viewers were not sure that Blanche was in fact raped by Stanley. Kazan was forced to reduce the rape scene to a series of symbols, such as a broken mirror, Blanche lying limp in Stanley’s arms, and a quick cut to a street-cleaner hosing down the pavement. The ending was further weakened by Stella’s running away to Eunice’s rather than staying in Stanley’s embrace. This forced, happy, Hollywood ending took away much of the tragic punch of the stage play, and was in fact Tennessee’s least favorite part of the film. “A Streetcar Named Desire was a brilliant film until the very end, when the distortions of the censorial influences made it appear that Stella would no longer live with Stanley because of what had happened to Blanche at his hands...,” he later said. (Kolin, 151) Kazan also added some changes of his own to the script, widening the locations for the film to beyond simply the Kowalski apartment. Shooting on location in New Orleans, he chose to open the film with Blanche appearing from a train station, walking through the steam, as if whispy and dream-like from the beginning. Further, he added the restaurant location for Blanche and Mitch’s date. Its waterside location was simultaneously “nostalgic and romantic” as Blanche told of her first husband’s death and Mitch attempted to step in as her new love. Finally, in a scene not in the play, the film showed a brief encounter between Mitch and Stanley at the factory, in which Stanley presumably told Mitch of Blanche’s questionable past. Phillip C. Kolin suggests the, “clamorous, almost deafening din of turbines suggest[s] the impending clash between the two men over Blanche.” (Kolin, 154) Ballet The 1952 ballet version of A Streetcar Named Desire is perhaps the most unique telling of the story. Significantly shorter than the play, which runs about 3 hours, the ballet lasts only about 40 minutes. The adaptation was choreographed by Valerie Bettis, with Williams’ approval, and used music from the film (composed by Alex North). (Kolin, 157) The ballet premiered first in Montreal before traveling stateside where it eventually enjoyed one month of performances on Broadway from December 8, 1952 until January 3, 1953. Originally performed by the Slavenska-Franklin dance company, performed the piece to widely positive reviews. Many reviewers commented on Bettis’ success at capturing the difficult and dark relationships within the show as well as the violence and sexuality, all without a single line of dialogue. (Kolin, 157) Scenes, such as Blanche’s memory of her dead husband, Allan, had her dancing with youthful energy with several young suitors. In contrast, the rape scene depicted Stanley as he, “furiously chased Blanche through a number of shuttered doors….emblematically synchronized with the danse macabre performed by the mad Blanche.” (kolin, 158) The ballet was revisted in 1982 by the all black company of Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH). Reviewers of this production lauded Virginia Johnson’s Blanche as being “less ravaged, more willful” than Vivien

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Leigh’s. Similar in his unique approach to the role, Lowell Smith was noted as being “an unusually confused Stanley who is partly victimized by events.” The production was considered effective largely on the strength of its prima ballerina and its new interpretations of Williams’ classic characters. (Kolin, 159-160) Teleplay(s) Streetcar was again put on film, this time for a teledrama which was broadcast in 1984. The adaptation was directed by John Erman and starred Ann-Margaret as Blanche and Treat Williams as Stanley. The film had to overcome the enormous hurdle of following up the classic film directed by Elia Kazan; however was free from much of the censorship Kazan had been subject to. (Kolin, 160) With this freedom, this version was noted by many critics as being much more gritty, violent, and realistic than previous interpretations. Ann-Margaret was noted as playing Blanche with much more overt sexual energy than had Vivien Leigh. Critics liked her performance of the character, and lauded her ability to create a new take on Blanche as a survivor and someone who fought back. Treat Williams’ Stanley was not as well-received. Though commended for being in the proper shape to play Stanley, Williams opted to play him more violently and unrefined than had Brando or any other actor who had attempted the role. Williams was constantly eating, sweating, and scratching himself. Unbound by censorship, Erman included a vivid depiction of the rape, with Williams throwing Margaret to the bed and grinding himself against her despite her protests. In the end, critics felt the teledrama was a successful adaptation, but that it failed to live up to the original primarily because of Williams’ inability to capture any of Stanley’s redeeming qualities. (Kolin, 163-4) A final film adaptation was done in 1995, which reunited Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange who had played opposite each other on Broadway. Noted as being the most accurate adaptation of Williams’ original script the drama ran three hours and also starred John Goodman as Mitch and Diane Lane as Stella. Baldwin was met with very positive reviews, having captured the balance of Stanley’s attractiveness and violence. Further, Lange was praised as being much better on camera than on stage. Whereas on Broadway she was considered too stiff and too stagnant in her portrayal of Blanche, reviewers found her subtlety refreshing when performing for the teledrama. (Kolin, 166)

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Textual Analysis Themes An entire thesis study could be devoted to a textual analysis of A Streetcar Named Desire. It is easily one of the most layered and subtle pieces of drama ever written, and it is the play that in my mind secures Tennessee Williams a spot alongside Arthur Miller and Neil Simon as one of the greatest American playwrights. On the surface, the show simply seems to deal with the tensions of extended family butting heads while being cooped up together in the same small place. The audience is simply waiting for Blanche and Stanley’s conflict to come to a head. However, beneath this simple premise of two opposing people battling for a place to call home are themes of transportation, light, alcohol, tradition vs. new culture, and desire vs. love. Transportation As Thomas Adler points out, “The word Streetcar in Williams’s title points, of course, to a mode of transportation.” (Adler, 19) From her arrival on this very streetcar, Blanche is constantly threatened by being transported away from her chance at a new life. Indeed, before living with Stanley and Stella, Blanche had resided at a motel, itself an establishment for temporary residence. A place to stay for passers through. And having taken a train and two streetcars to get to Elysian Fields, where Stanley and Stella live, Blanche is as far removed as she ever has been from her white-column life at Belle Reve. Throughout the play, Williams also associates modes of transportation with threats to Blanche. This is evident in his use of the sound of elevated trains passing behind the apartment as cover for Stanley’s approach during her tirade against him. Williams also associates Stanley with automobiles as he works at an auto plant, and personally fixes his car rather than allow the mechanics to touch it. Finally, it is Stanley who gives Blanche her bus ticket back to Laurel. Anytime transportation is brought up, it signifies how out of touch and isolated Blanche is, and how she will inevitably forced to pack and leave once again. As Blanche tells the audience, and the poker players in her final scene, “[She’s] only passing through.” (Williams, 138) Light Williams helps to define his two main characters through their relationship with light, and he uses light within the show to coincide with major events. For Blanche, from her first entrance, she demands Stella, “turn that over-light off, I won’t be looked at in this merciless glare.” (Williams, 19) As the audience gets to know Blanche, and of her desperate concern over her age and fading looks, her need for soft, dim light is understood. Blanche’s need for delicate lighting matches her delicate personality and her history which is shrouded in mystery. The connection is strengthened when Blanche buys a paper lantern, because she, “can’t stand an naked lightbulb, anymore than I can a rude remark or vulgar action.” (Williams, 55) This metaphor of the lantern and light is completed for Blanche when it is torn off first by Mitch, when he exposes her age and her lies in scene 9 and again in scene 11, when Blanche cries out herself in fear and pain when Stanley rips off the lantern to give to her. By contrast, Stanley, who is in every way Blanche’s opposite through the show, is highlighted in bright lights. The hard light which is shown on Stanley exposes his bright colored shirts and young, muscled features. Stanley also talks to Stella several times throughout the play about getting “those colored lights going,” a reference to their passionate love-making. The imagery evoked of these passionate, emotional, colored lights is again the opposite of what Blanche describes as the “blinding spot-light” of love that was turned off in her world when her young husband died. Alcohol It is hardly uncommon to include alcohol throughout plays that deal with domestic issues or violence, however, Williams makes several distinct references to both Blanche and Stanley’s relationship to alcohol, and it is in part responsible for much of the show’s violence.

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From her first arrival, Blanche takes two shots to quiet her nerves, then proceeds to drink with Stella. Yet always claiming that “one is [her] limit,” Blanche flirts with Mitch in scene 3 by letting him know that “tonight she had three.” In her relationship with Mitch, Blanche is constantly using alcohol to ease the tension felt between the two, probably caused by their failure to ever truly connect. She has Stella prepare her a coke with a shot in Scene 5, directly before seeing Mitch (Williams, 79), and spends much of Scenes 6 and 9 (her two alone with Mitch) rummaging for some alcohol. Similarly, Stanley’s character is strongly associated with liquor. In his first lengthy appearance on stage, he notes that “liquor goes fast in hot weather,” (Willliams, 30) before offering Blanche a shot. Later, through Mitch, the audience hears that one of the slanders (though in this case true) laid against Blanche from Stanley is that she has been “lapping [his liquor] up all summer like a wild-cat!” (Williams, 115) And finally, in the climax to the show, just before he rapes her, Stanley levels all his accusations against Blanche including “swilling down [his] liquor!” (Williams, 128) Just as both characters are defined by their treatment of alcohol, and their relation to it, the plot of the play is tied to its characters’ use of alcohol. The violence which erupts in Scene 3 is a direct cause of Stanley being a “drunk, drunk animal thing,” (Williams, 57) after having gone through 2 whole cases of beer with his friends. Blanche’s drinking at the start of both Scene’s 9 and 10 signals Stanley and Mitch’s coming cruelty. She is in a weakened state, and both Mitch and Stanley begin these scenes either drinking or already drunk. As Tennessee Williams told Elia Kazan in a letter, “In the end, you should feel – If only they had known about each other.” (Kolin, 8) So much of the tragedy of this play is derived from characters not understanding one another, and their inability to properly handle this misunderstanding when under the influence. Tradition vs. New Culture When directing the Broadway debut of Streetcar, Elia Kazan began with the characters, giving each of them what he called a spine. This was a main theme, sentence, or ideal to which the actor was to hold as a sort of starting point for his or her character. Kazan’s spine for Blanche was that she was, “trapped by and in the romantic “Tradition” of the antebellum South….seeking protection through a man.” (Kolin, 10) By contrast, Stanley’s spine, according to Kazan, was to keep things the way he has them; starting his family (over whom he is dominant) with Stella in New Orleans. The conflict between these two exists in the way that Stanley is associated with post-war America. He is a veteran of the 241st Engineers Corps. Upon returning home, Stanley has taken up working at an auto-manufacturing plant. He travels for his job, lives in the city, and is unrefined and uncultured, in an attractive, American way. Blanche, on the other hand is still a maiden of the old South. She clings to her aristocratic upbringing and values poetry and art above manual labor. Ultimately, Stanley and the new era of America are dominant over the old South, which is destroyed, or at least lives only in Blanche’s mind. Somehow, this advancement of modern culture over antiquated, elitist society does not feel right with the audience because the cost at which it was achieved.

Desire vs. Love

Williams’ strongest theme of all is evident directly in the title of the show. A Streetcar Named Desire is a show driven by its characters’ lusts and desires and how these feelings compete with the more pure love. Within the show, desire is shown to be a force which ultimately destroys those who act on it; it is the source of all degradation of the Kowalski household. Blanche has embarked on a life driven solely by desire since her first and only true love, Allan, took his life. She has flirted and become involved with young students at the high school where she taught. Once driven from there, she survived by satisfying men’s desires at the Hotel Flamingo, which set her further down the path toward ruin when she was run out of town and left effectively homeless. Upon living with Stanley and Stella, Blanche is determined to resist her desire for Stanley, evident from their first meeting in her flirtatious use of the perfume bottle, and instead pursue love with Mitch. It is Stanley, whose entire character is inherently representative of desire itself that shatters these hopes and breaks Blanche down completely for the final time. Similarly, Stella is forced to choose between a pure love for her sister Blanche and her past family, and her desirous love for Stanley and their new family. Ultimately, Stella sides with Stanley, choosing desire, and ruining her own chances at happiness by sending her sister away at the play’s end.

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Structure The show has an episodic structure over 11 scenes, several of which could stand alone as a miniature play. The first four scenes comprise Blanche’s spring arrival to New Orleans. Scenes 5 and 6 take place several months later in mid summer, and the final five scenes take place in the fall, after Blanche has long overstayed her welcome. Scene 1 Scene 1 opens just before Blanche’s arrival. The audience is first greeted by a bellowing Stanley, who tosses a blood-stained package of meat to his wife Stella, before going bowling with the guys. It is worth noting that Williams starts the audience off with Stanley, and in particular, his primal nature. He is immediately viewed by the audience as both a potential threat (the violence in his bellow, and holding a bloody package) and as the show’s alpha male. He has “[born] the raw meat home from the kill,” (Williams, 72) impressing his wife as the traditional hunter gatherer. In stark contrast, Blanche’s initial entrance is meek and passive. She quietly shuffles onstage having just taken a frightening series of streetcar rides to a place that, “Only Poe – only Mr. Edgar Allen Poe [could do] justice.” (Williams, 20) She is dressed in white, delicate clothing, and is described by Tennessee Williams as resembling a moth both in dress and manner. Stella returns from watching Stanley bowl, and attempts to calm her elder sister, and to defend her humble home. It is clear in this scene that Stella has moved on from Belle Reve (their childhood plantation home in the country) and accepted the harsh reality of life. Stella does seem concerned, however, that Blanche will be harsh in her judgment of the apartment and of Stanley and his friends. It is also noted in their early discussion that Blanche has shown up early, and though she is a teacher, she has come before the end of spring term due to a nervous breakdown. In this way, Stella is established as the maternal realist to Blanche’s childish dreamer Finally, the tensions between the estranged sisters erupt when Blanche lashes out at Stella for leaving Belle Reve after the death of their father. It is revealed that Blanche lived at the plantation as it rotted away from the inside, death consuming all other members of their family. After this climax and the revelation that Stella’s old way of life is completely gone from her, Blanche meets Stanley, and the act ends with a forward (Ball, 45) suggesting that Blanche’s psychological state has something to do with her deceased husband. Director’s Note: In this scene, Blanche and Stella should play as though they are faking an old friendship, and their joy to see one another until the end of the scene. Scene 2 Scene 2 picks up the next afternoon, with Stanley returning home from work to find Stella getting dressed and ready to take Blanche out for the evening. Blanche is “soaking in a hot tub to quiet her nerves” (Williams, 32), an action throughout the play used by Williams to enforce Blanche’s fragility and to increase the tension since the audience knows that Blanche could enter in on Stanley and Stella’s conversation at any moment. These baths reflect Blanche’s insatiable desire to be clean and fresh; to get a new start. Stella mentions to Stanley that Blanche is on edge because of the loss of Belle Reve, which sends the two into an argument over how the place was lost. Stanley, who is familiar with Louisiana’s Napoleonic Code, “according to which what belongs to the wife belongs to the husband and vice versa,” (Williams, 35), believes that Blanche has swindled Stella, and therefore him, out of their share of the Belle Reve estate. This marks the beginning of Stanley viewing Blanche with mistrust. For the first time seeing Blanche as deceitful and dishonest, Stanley proceeds to tear through Blanche’s rich garments and jewelry as proof as proof that Blanche has taken the proceeds of the sale and spent the plantation on herself. Subtly, this scene calls into question Stanley’s real reason for marrying Stella. The text suggests that Stanley married Stella specifically because of his knowledge of the Napoleonic Code with the full intension of gaining Belle Reve for himself when the estate was sold.

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Their argument escalates until Stella insists on sitting outside while Blanche changes opening the stage for Blanche and Stanley’s first encounter. Stanley stays in the apartment and displays his aggressive and dominant nature, confronting Blanche about her familiarity with the Napoleonic Code and inquiring directly about the so-called “loss” of Belle Reve. Blanche also shows, for the first time, her use of sexuality to flirt with Stanley to change the subject. She later tells Stella, “I called him a little boy and laughed and flirted. Yes, I was flirting with your husband!” (Williams, 44) The brutish Stanley is confused and angered by Blanche’s forwardness and by her refusal to answer his questions. Director’s Note: This portion of the scene plays out like a tennis match, with each of Streetcar’s two focal characters battling for dominance in their first meeting. It should be clear to the audience that whoever gains the upper hand here will ultimately control the other and the outcome of the show. The scene ends with Blanche giving Stanley a box full of old documents tracking the financial demise of Belle Reve over hundreds of years until the plantation was presumably lost on a mortgage. In the process, Stanley discovers a package of Blanche’s old love letters, (which we will later find to be from her young husband), which sends Blanche into another hysterical outburst. For the second time, Williams has foreshadowed the source of Blanche’s unease to be her former husband. Finally, after Blanche has proven to Stanley that she was completely truthful in saying that Belle Reve was lost, and has therefore seemed to gain the upper hand, Stanley reveals that Stella is pregnant, a fact which Stella had intentionally kept from Blanche. It is implied that Stella’s pregnancy reminds Blanche of her age and the loss of Allan (her young husband) and further of her loss of a chance at a normal life. Taking this cheap shot with his ace in the hole, Stanley has assured his dominance over Blanche for the rest of the play. Scene 3 – The Poker Night The only scene with its own title, The Poker Night was the basis for Streetcar as mentioned above. Scene 3 is a wonderful example of Williams’ deftness in building tension. Stanley, who has been drinking heavily and losing at poker all evening is becoming frustrated with Mitch (who is up in the game) constantly dealing himself out of hands and excusing himself from the table. Further, he is frustrated with Blanche’s insistence on turning on the radio, and becomes aware of her being a distraction for Mitch. The entire time, Stella is in the bathroom. Every time Mitch leaves the table, or Blanche moves to the radio for some music, the audience is desperately hoping Stella will return before Stanley erupts. Williams describes the poker scene as smoky and boisterous with the men dressed in sharp, bright colors. He notes the scene as reminiscent of “a portrait of Van Goh’s of a billiard-parlor at night.” (Williams, 45). The colors in the painting (below) are vibrant, bright, and violent, and suggest a sort of danger about this night parlor. Accordingly, there should be an element of fear or danger during the poker scene.

Vincent Van Gogh’s The Night Cafe

The tension builds right from the beginning as the poker players chide Mitch for being so hesitant to continue gambling his winnings. Everyone seems to be laughing about it except Stanley, who has apparently been losing. “When I’m losing you want to eat! Ante up! Openers? Get y’r ass off the table, Mitch. Nothing belongs on a poker table but cards, chips and whiskey!” (Williams, 45-6) Within a page of this outburst, Mitch has excused himself yet again to go to the bathroom, much to Stanley’s chagrin. It is to this dangerous atmosphere that Stella and Blanche return.

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The women arrive and Stella asks Stanley to wrap up the game so they can all go to bed. Blanche, meanwhile, has found a new target for her affections and flirtations in Mitch. Mitch is in many ways the opposite of Stanley. Whereas Stanley is driven entirely by his immediate needs and desires, Mitch seems uncomfortable in acting on his. When he first encounters Blanche and Stella, in the bedroom, “[He] glanc[es] back at Blanche and cough[s] a little shyly. He realizes he still has the [bathroom] towel in his hands and with an embarrassed laugh hands it to Stella.” (Williams, 49) It is Mitch’s responsibility and togetherness that attract Blanche to him initially. Blanche then goes into full performance mode and gives the audience their first glance at her entire bag of tricks when attempting to rope in a man. She begins by asking Mitch for a cigarette, seductively drawing him into the bedroom where she sits in only a satin robe. Blanche takes notice of his valuable silver cigarette case and the two discuss its romantic inscription, setting the tone for their conversation. Blanche goes on to tell Mitch that her “tongue is a little – thick,” (Williams, 54) because she had two more than her usual one drink. After that, Blanche has Mitch hang the symbolic paper lantern over the exposed lightbulb, a test at exercising her control over him. The brief romantic interlude between Blanche and Mitch ends with Stella re-entering and Blanche turning on the radio once again. While this is seemingly just another attempt by Blanche to show her cultured upbringing, Blanche’s radio play throughout this scene has been a way of flirting with Stanley, sort of pulling his pigtails. Now, it serves the double purpose of inciting Stanley to action and testing Mitch to see how he holds up as a man next to Stan. This turning on of the radio marks the abrupt change in the scene from a romantic introduction to violence. The remainder of Scene 3 acts as a series of forwards (Ball, 45) showing the audience how the play will ultimately end for Blanche. Once the radio is turned on for the second time, Stanley shows his truly violent side by hitting Stella and brawling with his friends who wrestle him away from her. Mitch and the other men in the play show their inherent weakness next to Stanley as they run and hide after he lashes out at them. Stella takes Stanley back, choosing him over Blanche, as she will at the end of the play. Finally, the scene foreshadows Blanche’s closing line of the play when she tells Mitch, still a relative stranger, “Thank you for being kind! I need kindness now.” (Williams, 61) Scene 4 The scene’s opening image highlights the difference between Blanche and Stella, with Blanche rushing in to the apartment to convince Stella to leave with her. Stella is lazily lying in bed eating grapes after a night of romance with Stanley. Scene 4 simultaneously shows Blanche at her best and worst, finally taking control and playing the dominant role of the hero to her sister, yet frantic and impotent in her attempts. Blanche’s attempts at heroism are met by Stella’s indifference and unflappable calm. Unlike the first scene, in which the sister’s play nice with one another, here, Blanche is unabashed in her verbal assaults on Stanley, and therefore Stella’s new life, and Stella makes little attempt to hide her viewpoint of Blanche as a child. Combined with the knowledge revealed in the first scene that Blanche was left alone at Belle Reve, and with Stella’s statement in Scene 5 that “[she] like[s] to wait on…Blanche. It makes it feel more like home,” (Williams, 79) the audience sees that Stella still views Blanche as a child, underdeveloped and incapable. The scene comes to a climax as Blanche finally speaks her real feelings about Stanley to Stella in one of the show’s best monologues. Finally boiling over, Blanche says (of Stanley), “there is something not quite to the stage of humanity yet! Yes, something – ape-like about him, like one of those pictures I’ve seen in – anthropological studies!” (Williams, 72). During her page-long deconstruction of Stanley’s character, unbeknownst to Blanche, Stanley has returned home under the cover of the trains, and is standing outside the door, providing dramatic irony and tension for the audience. This dramatic irony of Stanley hearing himself berated in front of his wife, in his home, which the audience can see, but is helpless to warn Blanche about is what builds the tension in scene 4. As soon as she is finished, Stanley loudly announces his approach and is greeted with a passionate embrace from Stella. The lights go down as Stanley stares, smiling at Blanche, victorious. Director’s Note: That subtle acknowledgement of his victory, and noticeable shift in Stanley deciding Blanche is an enemy and a threat to his idea of what family should be what marks the end of Act I.

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Scene 5 Act II of the play takes place several months later in mid-summer. Blanche is still living with Stanley and Stella, apparently without incident since the events of Act I. It is revealed that she has begun seeing Mitch. Blanche is waiting for Mitch to arrive for their evening date and Stella is getting dressed to go out with Stanley. At the scene’s opening, things seem to have cooled off and Blanche seems happy for the first time in the play, briefly establishing a new stasis. She is flirtatiously writing a letter to an old beau, Shep Huntleigh, and the audience is given a glimpse at Blanche as she used to be. Even violence upstairs at Steve and Eunice’s is dismissed as nothing to worry about. Just pages into the scene though, Stanley arrives home, his behavior showing that all is not okay in the Kowalski household. When Stella goes to greet him with a kiss, he brushes past her and straight to changing into his dress shirt. “He jerks open the bureau drawer, slams it shut and throws his shoes in a corner.” (Williams, 76) Blanche comments on his noisy and forceful demeanor, but Stanley quickly changes the conversation to her past, and her involvement at a hotel called the Flamingo. Stanley only brings up the Flamingo, and the merchant named Shaw to gauge Blanche’s reaction to their mention. While some may read this brief scene as an interrogation by Stanley to determine if Blanche is, in fact, familiar with Shaw and the Flamingo, it is clear that he already knows the rumors he’s heard to be true. Stanley is merely torturing Blanche with his information. With the revelation that he knows about the Flamingo and her sordid past, Stanley sends Blanche into a panic about what is known about her in New Orleans. How much does Mitch know? Blanche has only until the end of the scene to determine what Mitch knows and how she can spin it. He is her last chance at a normal life and her only chance at starting over fresh. Symbolically, Stella spills coke all over Blanche’s white dress, threatening to soil the virginal garment before her date with Mitch. Fortunately, the coke does not stain, and Mitch hasn’t learned of Blanche’s history at the Flamingo and her dealings with strange men. Still, Blanche is unable to resist temptation one last time before embarking on her new, pure life with Mitch when a young collector arrives. The scene is loaded with sexual tension as Blanche exhibits her attraction to young boys, which won’t be fully revealed until scene 7. Similar to eating one last cookie before going on her new diet, Blanche lures the young man in for one gentle kiss just before Mitch’s arrival. By contrasting this interaction with the next scene, which immediately follows Blanche’s less-than-fun date with Mitch, the audience should see that Blanche will never be happy living with Mitch in his world. Scene 6 Scene 6 serves primarily to heighten the threat posed by Stanley in Scene 5 of revealing Blanche’s past. Knowing that Mitch and Stanley are close, there is always the fear that Stanley could ruin Blanche’s chance at a normal life with Mitch at any moment. Further, Mitch’s insistence that “[he] likes [Blanche] just the way [she is], because in all [his] – experience – [he’s] never met anyone like [her],” (Williams, 87) only increases the risk that he will reject her if he finds out she has been untruthful with him. Throughout the scene, Blanche plays the role of proper southern belle, being coy with Mitch, simultaneously flirting with him and drawing him further into the apartment. The two begin on the porch at the doorway, then remain at the door for a while, then move to the kitchen and finally the bedroom, led by Blanche’s dialogue. Scene 6 also serves to lighten the mood of the play, as Mitch is very representative of the clumsy everyman, unsure of how to handle himself on a date. He makes the classic mistakes of asking Blanche first of her weight, then of her age. However, the question of age marks a change in the scene to encourage the audience to hope that the two really have a chance. As the audience knows, Blanche is very insecure about her age and her fading beauty. It is because of this question, and his reason for asking it (to tell his mother about the girl he likes), that Blanche reveals to Mitch, and to the audience, what happened to her first husband. In another excellent monologue, Williams reveals that Blanche’s first husband, a young and beautiful poet, had been a homosexual, and in an outburst likely brought on by a feeling of rejection, Blanche said that he

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disgusted her. This revelation, at a public party led Allan to run outside, stick a revolver in his mouth, and blow away the back of his head. This speech is perhaps the most important of all Blanche’s lines throughout the show, as it reveals the source of her trouble with men, the reason for her frustration at being alone and aging, and her obsession with young boys and recreating the past. After her painful explanation, Mitch sits at her side, gently kisses her finally finding his strength asks, “could it be – you and me, Blanche?” (Williams, 96) It is the final moments of this scene, which play out like a classic romance film, that spurs the audience into hoping against hope that Mitch and Blanche find a way to beat Stanley and find happiness together. Scene 7 Several more months have passed by the start of the play’s final act, and Blanche seems to be very happy with Mitch. In fact, Stella even remarks that she’s begun to hope that Mitch will marry Blanche. The scene opens with Stella setting the apartment for Blanche’s birthday celebration, which is to include Stanley, Stella, and Mitch. Blanche is once again bathing, though this time cheerfully preparing for Mitch’s company. Stanley enters this scene with a mission of his own, eager to take the opportunity to reveal Blanche’s sordid past, which he hinted at in scene 5, in hopes of swaying Stella to side with him. Having already revealed all to Mitch, and with a Greyhound ticket for Blanche to leave in his back pocket, he demands Stella’s attention. While he may act as though he is looking for Stella’s support in what he feels he has to do, Stanley has already made up his mind and set into action the course of events which will ruin Blanche. Stanley reveals that while at the Flamingo, Blanche had many affairs with men of the town of Laurel until the motel actually kicked her out based on her bad reputation. Worse than that, she didn’t take a leave of absence from her teaching job, but was fired for having improper relations with a 16 year old boy who was her student. Stanley delivers this information to Stella in the hopes that she will side with him and agree that Blanche needs to leave. He also hopes that Stella will forgive him for forcing her sister to leave. However, Stella seems unable to accept what she has just heard, and is furious at Stanley for slandering Blanche. Stella is angrier still to learn that Stanley has repeated these stories to Mitch, knowing that in all likelihood that Blanche’s chances at happiness with Mitch are ruined. Director’s Note: The duality of each character in this scene is crucial. Stella does believe Stanley, although she does not want to. Meanwhile, Stanley is victorious, but wants Stella to be happy with him, so his celebration is withheld.

Scene 8

Director’s Note: Scene 8 is all about setting the stage for Blanche’s destruction. It is the first domino in the series that leads to the rape and her ending the show in madness. There is no turning back from this point. As described by Thomas Adler, scene 8 is “a birthday celebration gone awry,” (Adler, 22) in which Mitch’s conspicuous absence sets Blanche – and the audience – at unease from the start. With Stella already upset with him, and having already decided to send Blanche packing and ruin her chances with Mitch, Stanley, for the first time in the play, reveals his hatred for Blanche unmasked to her face. He no longer plays games, and is perhaps even more cruel because of Stella’s rejection of his attempts to protect their family from Blanche’s lies. He erupts at the women twice in the short, 7-page scene. At Stella’s, “Your face and your fingers are disgustingly greasy. Go and wash up and then help me clear the table.” (Williams, 107), Stanley smashes his plate and glass and yells at both women for calling him disgusting, dirty, and greasy throughout the play. Barely two pages later, Stanley again violently yells at Blanche for calling him a, “healthy Polack, “without a tense nerve in [his] body!” (Williams, 110) With that outburst, Stanley gives Blanche her Greyhound ticket, calling up Williams’ frequent theme of transportation passing Blanche by. She retreats to the bathroom and the scene ends with Stella discovering her water has broken and that she needs to go to the hospital. Adler suggests that the arrival of the baby in this scene warns that even after Blanche is gone, the child will be the new divider between Stanley and Stella and that after scene 7, things between the two will never continue as normal.

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Scenes 9 and 10 It is almost impossible to look at these two scenes separately, as they parallel one another beautifully and serve to showcase the inherent differences in Mitch and Stanley. The two scenes also need one another in order to happen and the play needs both scenes to happen in order to fully crush Blanche’s dreams and leave her the tragic hero for the audience by the play’s end. Each scene opens with Blanche drinking, one of her ways of keeping in the past alive in her mind and escaping the present. In scene 9, she drinks because of Stanley’s cruelty at her birthday party, and in scene 10, it is Mitch’s attempt at violence that has sent her to drinking. Whatever her reason for drinking, Blanche is caught off guard and at a disadvantage in each scene. In each scene one of the men intrudes on her and she struggles to keep the illusion of her fantasy life alive. With Mitch, Blanche attempts to rekindle the romance and forgive his missing her birthday. With Stanley in scene 10, she weaves a story of Mitch’s apology and plea for forgiveness, which she claims to have denied, and invents a story of Shep Huntleigh inviting her on a cruise. In each scene, the men have been drinking, but in an interesting reversal, it is Mitch in scene 8 who outwardly appears threatening. He is forceful with Blanche and demands she respond to Stanley’s accusations. In the climax of the scene, Mitch demands to see Blanche in the light, which displays her true age, and symbolically exposes all her lies. Angry, Blanche finally pours out the truth to Mitch, and in cruel irony, the truth exposed, Mitch demands, “what [he’s] been waiting for all summer.” (Williams, 120) Mitch attempts to violate Blanche, but remains impotent and flees when she screams fire. It is in this weakened and fragile state that Blanche begins scene 10. Having lost all hope at normalcy, she is reliving her past glories and talking to several imaginary gentleman callers. Stanley arrives, and contrary to his form throughout the majority of the show, seems genuinely happy and even kind toward Blanche. Perhaps it is the imminent arrival of his baby, a sign of his potency and virility as a male, or perhaps it is the knowledge that he has finally sent Blanche away permanently. The scene abruptly changes when upon realizing that her story of the “Texas oil millionaire” was all just another lie, Stanley taunts Blanche for her falsehoods. Becoming frantic Blanche tries to escape but is impeded by Stanley, who goads her into a physical confrontation which ends with him violating her the way Mitch was unable to just one scene before. Were it not for Mitch’s cruelty and attempted abuse, Blanche would not be in the fragile state that made the rape possible in scene 10. On a final note, much has been said regarding the rape. Some feel that Stanley rapes Blanche purely out of sexual desire and that this act is just one more example of him acting to fulfill his immediate urge. However, it seems unlikely that Stanley, who has used violence previously in the play, yet has avoided any sort of sexual contact with Blanche to suddenly act on his desire for her in that way. Two alternative theories are that Stanley sees raping Blanche as the only way to finally defeat her and save his family, removing her from his life forever. Conversely, Stanley has already utterly defeated Blanche by ruining her chances with Mitch and giving her a bus ticket back to Laurel. He is equally victorious in his marriage by having Stella stand by him and by having a son the next morning. In this light, the rape can be viewed as a celebration of his masculinity and complete victory. Whatever interpretation of the rape, it is the cruelty of Mitch, mirrored by the cruelty of Stanley that allow for it to happen, and it is the rape itself which finally breaks Blanche down completely. As Adler says, “[Blanche is severed] permanently from any possibility of physical connectedness with another.” (Adler, 23) Scene 11 A stark contrast to the two preceding scenes, scene 11 is crowded, and opens with Stanley’s poker party again playing, this time during a bright autumn afternoon. While the men boisterously enjoy their poker party (except for Mitch, who does seem guilt-ridden, or at least morose), Stella and Eunice help to prepare Blanche to be taken away by the doctor.

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Blanche is muted and timid in this scene, seemingly afraid to be seen by any of the men. She appears to be living in her dream world of youth, yet still aware of the apartment and being in the French Quarter. She speaks of dying of an unwashed grape, and believes she will die, “with [her] hand in the hand of some nice looking ship’s doctor, a very young one with a small blond mustache and a big silver watch.” (Williams, 138) This is perhaps the first and only description the audience is ever given of Allan, whose death set into motion her entire sad history with men. When the doctor and matron enter, Blanche is disappointed that it is not Shep Huntleigh, whom she was apparently expecting, and attempts to flee and hide. While Blanche struggles with the androgynous matron, Mitch attempts to rescue her, but is again rendered impotent by Stanley, who prevents his interference. It is the doctor who, reading Blanche’s delusion, presents himself as a suitor, and graciously offers his arm and escorts Blanche from the apartment. Upon Blanche’s exit, Stella attempts to follow and rescue her and openly sobs. With this, Thomas Adler argues that Stella may not love Stanley any longer. “Although Williams would later remark somewhat cryptically that “the meaning of the play is that [Stanley] does go on with [Stella]” (Conversations, 275), whether or not Stanley is victorious in imposing upon Stella an identity that defines her by submission remains satisfyingly ambiguous as the curtain falls.” (Adler, 66) However, while Stella stands crying, Stanley, with a “sensual murmur” sooths her as, “he kneels beside her and his fingers find the opening of her blouse.” (Williams, 142) With this disturbingly sexual gesture, and Stella’s seeming acceptance of it, the audience is left with the impression that all has been set right in the Quarter and that life will go on as it always has.

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Action/Events of the Play What follows is a list of actions and events through Streetcar. The actions describe the overall spine of the play as a whole, and then the spine of each scene. They are meant to describe the overall flow of what physically happens through each scene of the play. As David Ball states in Backwards and Forwards, “Your first task when reading a play is to find each action: find each action’s first event (its trigger), then its second event (its heap). (Ball, 10) The events list that follows traces every event as it occurs through the play. The events are listed in reverse order as a means of determining the cause and effect of everything that happens in the show. The method of creating an events list in reverse order is recommended by David Ball who says, “Sequential analysis of actions is most useful when done backwards: from the end of the play back to the start. It is your best insurance that you understand why everything happens.” (Ball, 18)

A Streetcar Named Desire Action: Desire (Stanley Kowalski) costs Blanche DuBois what’s left of her sanity. Action By Scene: Scene 1: Blanche arrives and defends herself from Stella and charms Stanley Scene 2: Stanley tears through Blanche’s belongings, and the two battle for control Scene 3: Stanley beats Stella, but convinces her to come back Scene 4: Blanche pleads with Stella (rescue attempt), and Stella sides with Stanley (Desire) Scene 5: Stanley dredges up Blanche’s past, Blanche begins to slide out of sanity Scene 6: Blanche reveals her first husband and she and Mitch save one another Scene 7: Stanley divulges Blanche’s mixed past with young boys Scene 8: Stanley goes in for the kill and puts Blanche out Scene 9: Mitch ruins Blanche’s last hope with cruelty Scene 10: Stanley finally destroys Blanche and wins by raping her Scene 11: Stella chooses Desire over love and has Blanche taken away

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Events List: In Reverse Order by Scene Scene 11

Stanley embraces Stella, encouraging and victorious Blanche is taken away by the doctor The doctor charms Blanche out of her fear Blanche flees away from Doctor, not knowing his identity Stella takes Blanche to the Doctor Doctor arrives Eunice and Stella calm Blanche (protect her) Blanche hears Stanley and Mitch; insists she must leave Eunice and Stella flatter Blanche Blanche enters from Bathroom Eunice reassures Stella (about choice) Stella distracts herself from Blanche by asking about baby Stella and Eunice arrive; Eunice criticizes the man Men argue over card game

Scene 10

Stanley rapes Blanche Blanche collapses Stanley defends himself Blanche threatens Stanley with a bottle Stanley stalks her, smelling her fear Blanche tries to call Shep Huntleigh or Western Union Stanley catches Blanche in her lie Blanche lies about Mitch; She one-ups Stanley Stanley celebrates their joy with beer and pyjamas Blanche creates Shep fantasy Stanley arrives Blanche relives memories aloud

Scene 9

Blanche screams fire and Mitch flees Mitch forces himself on Blanche Blanche denies lying about feelings Blanche confirms past (Tarantula Arms) Mitch exposes Blanche as a liar with the light Mitch crushes Blanche’s wings by tearing off the lantern Blanche stalls with talk about mother and liquor Mitch stalks in and corners Blanche

Scene 8

Stella’s water breaks, they leave for the hospital Stanley begs Stella to understand and remember how they were Stella tears Stan’s shirt to get him to pay attention Stan gets ready to bowl Blanche runs away crying (hides); Stella shames Stanley Stan gives Blanche the ticket, kicking her while she’s down Phone call about bowling Stella urges Stan to come back in Blanche goes to call Mitch (gaining courage) Star bursts breaking plate and lashes out about “pig” and “Polack” Stella attacks Stan for being rude Blanche attempts to dispel awkwardness

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Scene 7

Blanche loses luster, demands truth from Stella Stella hides feelings from Blanche Stanley evades Stella by going to bathroom Blanche enters from bathroom Stanley bangs at door to avoid Stella (changes subject) Stella scolds Stanley (for telling Mitch) Stanley reveals Mitch won’t be over Stella readies cake and denies Stanley’s rumors (seeks comfort/security in cake) Stanley battles to show Stella who her sister is Stella defends Blanche

Scene 6

Mitch proposes love to Blanche; they rescue each other Blanche pours her honesty to Mitch; offers trust Mitch tests the water with hints about his mother Mitch asks about age (finally gets to the point!) Mitch reassures Blanche; building his and her confidence Blanche stops Mitch short; forces her ideals and her beliefs of gentleman-ness on him Mitch gets confident and goes for a kiss Blanche encourages Mitch about the kiss (invites him) Mitch brags to Blanche; searches for a reason to stay Blanche flirts with Mitch; testing him

Scene 5

Mitch arrives and Blanche plays the tease Blanche attempts to absolve her guilt by sending boy away Blanche indulges her Desire; kisses boy Boy appeases woman (tries new way to escape) Blanche tests her seductive skill on paper boy Paper boy shows up Stella assures Blanche she’ll find happiness Spilled coke reveals Blanche’s fragility Stella uses coke to calm Blanche Blanche probes Stella for what she’s heard; tests Stella’s loyalty Stanley goes to find Steve and Eunice Stanley exerts power over (tortures/teases/threatens) Blanche Steve, Eunice, and Stanley interrupt Blanche is writing to Shep Huntleigh (plotting a hopeful escape)

Scene 4

Stanley wins and shows Blanche Stanley enters and Stella chooses Desire Stella dismisses Blanche Blanche tries to save Stella Stella sets Blanche straight about Stanley Blanche tries to wake Stella up; reminds her of values Blanche enters, desperate to find Stella

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Scene 3

Blanche seeks safety outside, lost Stella forgives Stanley and goes to him; chooses Desire Stanley appeals to Stella with primitive yells Eunice blocks him Stanley panics: Searches for Stella and memory Guys wrestle Stanley to shower; women flee to Eunice Stanley beats Stella; Desire turns against her Stella takes control from Stan Stan breaks radio in power play Blanche turns on radio to flirt with Mitch Mitch shows interest AND finds out Blanche is unmarried (what he wanted to know) Mitch leaves cards; is drawn into Blanche’s spell Stella goes to bathroom Blanche discusses Mitch’s potential; shows her nature Mitch goes back to cards; flees embarrassment Blanche plays coy with Mitch; gives him the litmus test Mitch enters from Bathroom Stanley asserts male authority (spanks Stella) Girls get home Poker night; Stanley bullies his friends as a defense for losing (This is his nature)

Scene 2

Stella enters and Blanche congratulates her Stanley takes back power (mentions pregnancy) Blanche makes him look foolish (gives him paper) Stanley demands to see papers Blanche dodges with flirtation Stanley puts Blanche on her heels (stays while she dresses) Blanche enters/Stella exits Stella scolds Stanley, but gives up Stanley searches Blanche’s trunk; seeks proof Stella changes topic with confusion Stanley tries to expose Blanche (Napoleonic Code) Stanley enters; Stella explains that she’s chosen Blanche tonight

Scene 1

Blanche relives memory of husband’s death Stanley uses her husband to break tension Stanley enters INERRUPTION: Men coming home; Blanche hides; she likes to observe and select a strategy (like a

lady spider) Stella flees to escape emotion Blanche insults Stella; passes blame to her Stella pieces together Blanche’s story Blanche enlightens Stella on all she’s missed and seeks sympathy Stella arrives, welcomes Blanche (wonders why she’s early) Blanche gets privacy from Eunice Eunice shows Blanche in Blanche arrives Stan goes bowling; Stella follows

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Character Analyses As I explain in the next section, I see Streetcar as an actor’s show. Therefore, the starting point for my preparation was in analyzing the characters of the show. Studying the many, often famous, interpretations of these roles, and deciding, with my own reading of the text, who I thought each character was, and their goals. Below, I describe my analysis of each of the four main characters, and what I hope to get from each of the performances. Additionally, to help me prepare for casting, I created one to two sheet character biographies which were later revised and given to the cast. They are not written as paragraphs, but rather collect data from the script, or my interpretation thereof in providing for the actor what Elia Kazan might call a spine. These one-sheets serve as an anchor which the actors and I can use to determine how their characters should behave in various scenes and what their backgrounds, motivations, and goals are throughout the play. Blanche Streetcar places one of Williams’ classic fragile heroines opposite the “forceful and dynamic” (Williams, 76) Stanley Kowalski. Streetcar opens with the arrival of southern belle Blanche DuBois into the French Quarter of New Orleans. This foreign, urban, noisy, and modern city is the polar opposite of that of Blanche’s youth, and it is her inability to become a part of New Orleans society that ultimately leads to her downfall. Blanche’s descent into madness has sparked some debate as to whether or not she can and should be considered a tragic heroine. Some argue that because it is the cruelty of Mitch and the rape by Stanley that destroy Blanche, she lacks a tragic flaw and that the show can therefore not be categorized as a tragedy. Others suggest that it is Blanche’s own inability to move forward and abandon her past, as well as her inability to be truthful with Mitch that ultimately leads to her downfall. Elia Kazan – Kazan described Blanche as “an emblem of a dying civilization, making its last curlicued and romantic exit.” (Kolin, 10) He describes her character’s spine as “tradition.” She has a need to resurrect and maintain traditional southern values of the southern belle, swept off her feet and cared for by a prince charming. In this belief, she sees herself as superior to other characters, including Stanley, Stella, and even Mitch, with whom she tries to force herself into love. According to Kazan, this superiority is her tragic flaw. He believed that she must come on strong and unlikable at first, critical of Stella’s new way of life and her happiness, but through the play, as she is exposed by Stanley , she should become weakened, warm, and identifiable. Kazan believed that by the play’s end, Blanche should have the sympathy of the audience as someone everyone misunderstood.

Jessica Tandy – Tandy, who originated the role, is described by Kolin as much more the moth than the tiger. (Kolin, 19) Her success in playing Blanche was said to be in her pathos. Tandy’s Blanche was terrified of her new French Quarter environment, and of the crude, violent nature of its denizens. Reviewers saw her as seductive without being scandalous. Tandy was not strong and assertive as future Blanche’s would be, but was delicate and fragile. In perhaps the largest decision an actor can make when playing Blanche, Kazan and Tandy believed that Blanche was mad from the show’s start, with her madness cracking through the façade of sanity throughout the show.

Uta Hagen – Hagen was Tandy’s replacement on Broadway and for the touring company of Streetcar. Hagen was directed by Kazan’s friend at the Actor’s Studio, Harold Clurman. She was a larger, more imposing woman than Tandy, and as such her Blanche was sturdier and stronger in her actions; more the tiger. Hagen was assertive and played Blanche as pursuing her needs, a survivor. In their biggest diversion from Kazan and Tandy, Clurman and Hagen’s Blanche started the show completely sane, but went mad directly because of Stanley and her environment.

Vivien Leigh – Leigh rounds out the classic interpretations of Blanche. Leigh was a classically trained actress and not a student of method acting. Indeed, her performance in London was stagey and manufactured, and her emotions often rang false with critics. However, working with Kazan on the film, Leigh’s deep voice and classical training worked to her advantage. She came off as a spirited Blanche, with some fire in her belly. Leigh used her “tongue [as a] weapon of a frustrated woman.” (Kolin, 155) Further, Leigh’s classical training, with large gestures and manufactured emotions, brought out the performative elements in Blanche. Kolin argues that Leigh’s reliance on these performative elements essentially made her an unknowing method actor, as these were, in fact, traits of Blanche the character. Winning an Academy Award for her performance, Leigh’s is the Blanche that most people are familiar with today, primarily because of the success of the film.

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The first, and most important decision I made as a director, was that Blanche was mad from the show’s start. It is the death of Allan, not Stanley’s abuse, that is the source of Blanche’s madness. That said, I did not want a Blanche like Tandy’s, weak and timid. Her past at the Flamingo, and her ease at using men around her show that she is a survivor. There must be a strength to her, even in her instability. The challenge then is to balance that strength and manipulation with her mental fragility. How can an audience identify with a woman who is both mad and overbearing? I felt that the audience’s identification with Blanche should come from pity. For all her arrogance and superiority, she is fearful from the start, scared of the nightmarish apartment where her sister lives. She enters the play homeless and in a foreign land, full of violence and vulgarity. Blanche is child-like in this fear; her development was stopped with the death of Allan. I find that Blanche is like a street kid, tough on the outside, but stunted in her emotional development. While she uses her sexuality to manipulate men, and indeed to survive, she does so as a child trapped in an adult’s body, simply using sex to get what she wants. Like an imaginative child who plays dress up, Thomas Adler sees Blanche as an artist or illusionist saying, “Blanche is as an actress portraying the central character in a play that she first authors and then produces and directs. She treats the Kowalskis’ apartment as her theater, altering the décor to make it “almost dainty”….Blanche carries her own costume and props in her trunk…” (Adler, 37) She is noticeably comfortable around the young boy, Stella, and Mitch, all of whom she is able to manipulate. And what does Blanche ultimately want through all her manipulation? Where Kazan saw Blanche’s goal as preserving tradition, I see it is getting what Stella has with Stanley; what she almost had with Allan. She wants a man to protect and provide for her as she fantasizes Stanley does for Stella. Blanche Dubois Williams’ Description She is daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice, necklace and earrings of pearl, white gloves and hat, looking as if she were arriving at a summer tea or cocktail party in the garden district. She is about 5 years older than Stella. Her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light. There is something about her uncertain manner, as well as her white clothes, that suggests a moth. Super-Objective: Blanche needs to start her life over again, get back on her feet, and find a permanent

home. Scene by Scene Objectives: 1 – Gain Stella’s pity and get Stella to offer her a home. 2 – Gain power over Stanley with her charm 3 – Get Mitch to be her savior 4 – Rescue her baby sister, and be the hero for once 5 – Find out what people have said about her, and prepare accordingly for Mitch. She must change her life

with him NOW. 6 – Force herself to love Mitch, and test him as a gentleman 7 – Celebrate her love; Discover “what’s happened.” 8 – Keep her composure and maintain façade of confidence. Try to distract from Mitch’s noticeable

absence. Keep them from worrying about her and Mitch. 9 – Discover what Mitch knows and repair damage caused by Stanley. Salvage her relationship with

Mitch. Get him to propose marriage to her. 10 – Escape the cruelty of Mitch and Stanley. Go and find her fabled Shep Huntleigh and start over again. 11 – Prepare herself perfectly to greet Shep Huntleigh and get out of this house ASAP. Character History: Job

English Teacher (good with language; poetic) Works with young boys

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Love/Marriage Married young First husband was gay – caught him with an older man First husband was beautiful and a poet “Turned a spotlight on the world for her” Home/Death As a child, witnessed consumption-related death(s) Went from having $ and servants to having none Male figures in her family squandered their fortune(s) for epic fornications Had to care for mother who had gradually become an invalid Lived with large family, all of which gradually died Abandoned by Stella after father died Men/Relationships First love (see above) Soldiers from nearby fort called after her (and she met them) Hooked up with these soldiers just seeking human contact (straight) As fortunes were lost, she traded on sex Sought comfort for lost love in physical love Stayed at Hotel Flamingo; must have had arrangement to stay there; many gentleman callers (probably paid for her room in exchange for sex) Character POV (Point of View) Blanche views the world as a fairytale, with herself as a princess. She expects men to act as white knights and rescue her, taking her to their kingdom. Unfortunately, the men she meets are either non-chivalric (Stanley) or impotent (Mitch), and she is forced to paint the world as she wishes it to be. 3 – Word description: Fragile Creative Desperate Journey: She begins the show homeless but resourceful. However, her chief resource (beauty/sexuality) is fading. She must change her life immediately and find a man to care for her. By the end, ALL her hope is shattered. She loses her hope and her grip on reality and hides her mind in the safety of memories of her youth. What Blanche says about Herself Superintendent put her on a leave of absence “Daylight never exposed so total a ruin…” “Haven’t put on an ounce in 10 years…” “One’s my limit” or “two’s my limit” etc… “So much confusion in the world. Thank you for being so kind. I need kindness now.” She likes to be waited on She was never hard. Some people are soft, but you have to be soft and attractive, and she’s fading now… “I have to admit, I love to be waited on.”

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Stanley Stanley is perhaps the most difficult character to cast or to even approach because of the monumental success and recognition of Marlon Brando. Inexperienced, Brando originated the role of Stanley on Broadway and on film with charisma, subtlety and a sexual energy that had never been seen before. He had the proper build for Stanley, that of a street-brawler, muscled and tall. A student of the Actor’s Studio, Brando practiced the method technique, and played the role minimally and naturally. Brando’s Stanley was common, often eating with his hands, wearing dirty clothes and generally moving around the stage like an ape, simply satisfying one desire after the other. His outbursts of anger were intense, and his physical size created a frightening dynamic opposite Tandy or Leigh’s Blanche. Even his slurred speech was seen as an asset, as reviewers felt it lent credence to Stanley’s background. However, Brando’s greatest triumph in the role was to make Stanley a victim himself. Kazan’s spine for Stanley was that he was trying to preserve the family he was building with Stella. Brando’s Stanley saw Blanche as an intrusion into his perfect home life, which he was trying to preserve at all costs. He made Blanche’s manipulation, flirtation, and superiority seem cruel and unfair. In fact, when Brando finally did erupt and violate Blanche, destroying her completely, he did so, as Harold Clurman would say, “with the collusion of the audience.” (Kolin, 24) Early on, I decided that I did not want to attempt to play against Brando’s type with Stanley, nor to attempt to re-create exactly what he had done. Rather, my main goal was to create a Stanley that was truthful, and fit within my actor’s personality, but who had a touch of Brando’s charm. I felt it foolish not to acknowledge how inextricably linked the character is to Brando. While I agree with Kazan and Brando that Stanley’s driving force through the show is the preservation of his family, I disagree on what that means. I do not believe that Stanley really loves Stella, at least not in the way that she loves him. What Stanley wants to preserve is his view of what a family should be; that is control. Stanley is an alpha male whose ideal reality is a subservient wife at home to raise the family he sired. However, a man with this view of family, and with Stanley’s crudeness and his violent outbursts, is not likable to audiences. This is what I respected most about Brando’s performance; his ability to be violent and crude, yet still make audiences laugh and like him. Unfortunately, Brando was too likable, and often the tragedy of the show was lost in the audience identifying more with Stanley than Blanche. To avoid that, I believe Stanley should be a high school bully. Funny even when he is being mean to people, everyone kind of likes a bully as long as he’s not directing his teases and taunts at them. However, no one likes when a bully goes to far and hits an innocent kid or takes his lunch money. In this way, the audience should feel bad for Blanche from the start, but laugh along with Stanley at his crude humor, and still like the guy until he crosses the line, such as when he hits Stella, or becomes too cruel with Blanche in Scene 8. Essentially, I want the audience to laugh along with him until the rape. **In retrospect, this was the most effective part of the show. Indeed, audiences laughed at Stanley and enjoyed his teasing of Mitch, Stella, and even Blanche. They shared his joy in calling her out as a liar, and in discovering, with him, all about her sordid past. Yet there was a palpable tension in the room and a noticeable change in dynamic when Stanley violated Blanche in Scene 10. The laughter at Stanley’s other crudities immediately vanished and there was silence as he crossed this unforgivable line. Stanley Kowalski Williams’ Description: He is of medium height, about five feet eight or nine, and strongly, compactly built. Animal joy in his being is implicit in all his movements and attitudes. Since earliest manhood the center of his life has been pleasure with women, the giving and taking of it, not with weak indulgence, dependently, but with the power and pride of a richly feathered male bird among hens. Branching out from this complete and satisfying center are all the auxiliary channels of his life, such as his heartiness with men, his appreciation of rough humor, his love of good drink and food and games, his car, his radio, everything that is his, that bears his emblem of the gaudy seed-bearer. He sizes women up at a glance, with sexual classifications, crude images flashing into his mind and determining the way he smiles at them.

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Super-Objective: Stanley needs to keep his family together (and under his thumb) by removing Blanche

and going back to “the way things were.” Scene-by-Scene Objectives: 1 – Determine who Blanche is, how long she is staying, and “size her up”; both sexually and as a threat. 2 – Uncover the truth about Belle Reve, and get Blanche to tell him what happened to “his” fortune. 3 – To have a regular poker party, and show the women that Blanche’s presence changes nothing. 4 – Show Blanche Stella’s obedience and rub her nose in it. 5 – Pinpoint Blanche’s pressure points, and confirm his story. 7 – Expose Blanche to Stella, and get her to support his sending Blanche away, WITHOUT making her

mad. 8 – Send Blanche home, and get Stella to calm down (perhaps like tearing off a band-aid quickly). 10 – Celebrate his total victory (baby and Blanche leaving) AND save his family by destroying Blanche

completely. 11 – To restore normalcy, move things along, AND appear compassionate. (A graceful winner). Character History: Background: Decorated Officer in the 241st Engineers Corps. Fought/Served at Salerno Believes in his own luck = survival WWII Vet. – Where he met Mitch Pass-times: Bowling Cards Drinking Auto Repair Employment: Works at plant (presumably auto) Travels for his work “Only one likely to get anywhere…” Character POV (Point of View) Stanley sees the world as his cup from which to drink his fill. His main goal at any moment is to fulfill whatever desire he presently has (hunger, anger, sexual, etc…) 3 – Word Description: Brutish Boisterous Violent Journey: Stanley begins the show as a man at the peak of his masculinity, in complete control of his world. Through the show his domain is challenged and his confidence shaken. By the show’s end he has regained his throne. What Others Say About Him “My sister has married a man” Stanley’s Polish…something like Irish….only not so refined He smashed all the lightbulbs on the wedding night He’s an animal – bypassed by thousands of years of evolution (Blanche speech)

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Stella Stella is fundamentally different from Blanche in that she chose to leave Belle Reve. In fact, Stella could have very easily become like Blanche if she had stayed. But in her choice to leave, and in her becoming a part of New Orleans society and marrying Stanley, Stella is almost as opposite to Blanche as Stanley is. Elia Kazan saw Stella’s spine as “holding on to Stanley.” He believed that her goal was to keep her husband happy and keep him with her at any cost, ultimately sending a damaged and broken Blanche away in order to maintain her marriage to him. However, Thomas Adler argues that the play’s end suggests that Stella has already moved herself away from Stanley and that she no longer loves him as she once did. While understanding their justifications, I see each of these viewpoints as incomplete. While Stella desperately wants to keep Stanley happy, and to hold on to him as he pulls away in reaction to Blanche, Stella is not eager to choose him over her sister. It is the difficulty of this decision that is Stella’s main challenge through the play, attempting to balance the two sides of her life. Further, it is through Stella that audiences can view the play. They identify with her difficult choice as they too are torn between liking Stanley and seeing Blanche as a child who needs protection. Stella’s goal through the play is to save her marriage with Stanley, AND to still get Blanche on her feet. Ultimately, when she is only allowed to have one of these goals satisfied, she chooses Stanley and desire over Blanche and familial love. Stella Kowalski Super-Objective: Stella needs to save her marriage with Stanley by getting Blanche back on her feet and

out of their home. She must reconcile the two loves of her life. Scene by Scene Objectives: 1 – Find out why Blanche is there early, what happened to Belle Reve, and get Blanche to leave. Politely. 2 – Defend Blanche from Stanley, and prevent a direct confrontation between the two. 3 – Encourage Blanche’s interest in Mitch, but get the poker game to end. 4 – Show Blanche how childish she is being and that she knows more about the way the world works (and

Stanley). Get her to leave the incident behind. 5 – Get Blanche’s psyche back up for her first date with Mitch. Save her marriage with Stanley. (To do

this though, Blanche has to get out of the house by falling in love with Mitch.) 7 – Get Stanley to stop attacking her sister until Mitch proposes. Defend her. 8 – Shelter Blanche from Stanley and DO NOT let him repeat what he told you, or give her the bus ticket. 11 – Give Blanche the help she needs getting ready in order to save her family. Character History: Family/Home Blanche’s younger sister Always doted on Blanche at home Grew up at Belle Reve (watched it fall apart) Left after father’s death (escape) Stanley/New Orleans Met Stanley in New Orleans He wore a uniform with medals Good sex life Married him and became pregnant with his baby Job Unemployed Housewife/dotes on Stanley

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Point of View: Stella looks at the world realistically. She knows she needs a man to survive, but is realistic about her options. She sees relationships with people as give and take and doesn’t fault a person for being imperfect. She sees Blanche as a child, and has to watch out for her as a mother. Unafraid to throw her weight around, she can fight like a man. 3-Word Description: Down-to-Earth Tough Accommodating Journey: Stella begins the show hoping to balance her past life (and her sister) with her new one (and Stanley). Ultimately, the two are incompatible and she is forced to choose. Her link to her past is crumbling and fading, and her new life is all she has left; she cannot let it be destroyed so she ultimately chooses desire (Stanley) over love (Blanche).

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Mitch Mitch is an easily overlooked character of the play. While he is often thought of as Blanche’s foolish and bumbling love interest, his background and personality are as complex as any of the play. In essence, Mitch is the flawed, romantic lead of the play. He would be suave and perfect for Blanche were it not for his inexperience with women or with culture. Indeed, the only woman that Mitch seems to ever have known is his mother, who is sick and hangs over his every action like a cloud. The key to portraying Mitch believably is to not play into the bumbling, big-boned fool trap. He is not meant to be a caricature, but rather he is meant to be more identifiable to the audience than Stanley. He is to represent the everyman, lacking confidence with women, but trying his best. He is drawn to Blanche’s sophistication. After all, he tells her, “I’ve never met anyone like you.” With his mother sick and soon to die, Mitch is at risk of being totally alone. He is the only man among his friends that is unmarried and is already becoming an outsider of their group, as evidenced by their teasing him at the poker games. In Blanche he sees his last real hope at finding a companion to take his mother’s place when she is gone. It is his desperation and urgency that cause Mitch to falter around Blanche, whom he has put on a pedestal. Later, it is this same desperation with the addition of alcohol that causes him to attack her when he finds out she has lied to him. I do not believe Mitch wants to end things with Blanche in Scene 9 and think that he hates Stanley at the play’s end for ruining her for the world. Mitch truly does fall in love with Blanche, despite her past, by the show’s end and that is his tragedy. Harold Mitchell – “Mitch” Super-Objective: He wishes to “catch up” to the other guys, get married, and end his loneliness. Scene-by-Scene Objectives: 3 – Mitch is trying to quit while he’s ahead, then trying to be seen as attractive by Blanche. 6 – Convince Blanche that he’s the one and earn her trust; and to NOT screw this up. 9 – To get what Blanche has been withholding all summer. 11 – To catch one more glimpse of Blanche before she leaves. Character History: Military: Served with Stanley in the 241st Engineers Job: Works at Precision Parts Bench at Stanley’s Plant Appears to work Monday through Saturday. Sundays are only afternoon free Home/Love: Sick Mother Lives with Mother Girl gave him engraved cigarette case She was also sick and died Character POV (Point of View): Mitch has seen a lot of pain, but he takes people at their word. He is trusting and eager to please. He struggles to resist his temptations in the interest of being a gentleman.

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3 – Word Description: Trusting Sentimental Clumsy Journey: Mitch begins the show a bit lonely but hopeful. He finds his chance with Blanche, but upon discovering her truth, falls back on his loneliness and becomes cruel and greedy. By the show’s end he is angry, guilt-ridden, and lonelier than ever.

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VISION

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Vision An Actor’s Show Streetcar is an actor’s show. My meaning in this is two-fold. First, it is a play that rests on the strength of its characters, and cannot be successful without truly great acting. Second, it is the kind of show an actor dreams to be a part of. Roles like Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski are icons of American theatre. They are richly developed with flaws and actions that can be interpreted any number of ways. These characters have a dominant stage presence and have been played by greats like Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh, which challenges the actor to find something new, stretching his or her creative muscles. I wanted to direct an actor’s show because I am an actor myself. Having taken several acting classes, and performed in more than 20 plays, I have a deep understanding of and appreciation for the way an actor approaches a role. I wanted my directorial debut to depend most on the actors’ and my ability to create three-dimensional, truthful characters. The strength of Williams’ script and the depth of analysis on the characters of his work made Streetcar the perfect choice for me. Based on this choice, the most important part of the directorial process will be the character analysis and the rehearsal process. I plan to work with the actors first discussing their characters at table reads, then proceeding through each scene line-by-line to ensure that every word is truthful to the characters. Naturalism Over Stylization Of course, however important the performances, the show also demands a vision and a focus. Elia Kazan along with Jo Mielziner created a stylized world which heightened the emotional content of the show and brought it out visually. Having read and studied the original Broadway production, I have a great reverence and admiration for that production. However, my approach will be naturalistic and will strive for realism. No Refund Theatre’s technical limitations could make attempts to recreate the technical achievements of the original seem tacky, shoddy, and may detract from the show, and from the performances. Even if the stylized form of Kazan could be recreated in 111 Forum, I do not want to risk spectacle overshadowing my actors’ performances of these great characters, and I want the audience to be forced into the gritty New Orleans world of Stanley and Stella rather than the dream like, illusory world of Blanche. I plan to abandon Mielziner’s scrims, North’s background music, and Kazan’s shadow dancers. The only additions that I intend to add are a bright red light focused on the bed during the rape scene, musical interludes between each scene, and the Varsouvianna waltz which plays in Blanche’s head. These will serve Williams’ script with the necessary insight into Blanche’s mind and the mood of the play, act as an homage to the original production, and enhance the performances. Love vs. Desire Streetcar’s central theme is the struggle of love vs. desire, and it is these struggle that will be my primary focus. Reading the script, it became apparent to me that Stanley represents desire, and conversely that Blanche represents love. Stella is, as Kazan said, “The field over which the two do battle,” and acts as the audience’s eyes into the world of the play. Her struggle to choose between Stanley and Blanche is ultimately the audience’s. When read in this light, Streetcar acts as a warning from Williams of the destructive power of desire. Through the play, every character who pursues desire is ultimately punished and everything that Stanley (desire) touches is broken and destroyed. Blanche’s entire life has been a series of punishments ever since the death of Allan. She has pursued her own desires or attempted to fill the hole of lost love by satisfying the desires of strange men, and has ended homeless with nowhere to turn but to her sister’s husband. Mitch, who pursues a love with Blanche is her white knight, the show’s hero until Stanley (desire) tells him of Blanche’s past and ruins his dream. Overcome, Mitch pursues his own desire for physical love with Blanche and is rejected and left alone in the process. Even Stella, who struggles to protect Blanche through the show, and offers her a home and defends her from Stanley’s crude behavior and his slanders repeatedly chooses her desire for Stanley over her pure, sisterly love for Blanche. Ultimately, the tragedy of the show is that Stella chooses desire and sends Blanche away forever. The old ways of love have been broken down and defeated by the new lustful desire.

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PROCESS

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Proposing the Show A proposal for No Refund Theatre consists of a brief show synopsis, a male: female cast breakdown, the director’s preferred weekend for performance, an approximate budget breakdown, a general vision for the show, any unique technical aspects or set designs, and any special considerations regarding the show or its weekend. Below is the proposal for A Streetcar Named Desire.

A Streetcar Named Desire By Tennessee Williams

Directed by J. Samuel Horvath

Run-time: approximately 2 hours, 15 minutes,

with 2 intermissions (after scenes 4 &6) Cast break down: 6M, 6F

Thesis Supervisor – Matthew Toronto Asst. Director – Laura Herrmann Tech Director – Mark Celeste Costumer – Katie Mulfinger Set Designer – Jesse Cramer Synopsis: Delicate Southern Belle Blanche DuBois comes to stay with her sister Stella after losing the family plantation, Belle Reve. Only Stella’s husband, the primitive and passionate Stanley Kowalski suspects there is more to the loss of the plantation than Blanche is letting on. The meeting of these two forces threatens to drag up parts of Blanche’s past that could damage her already fragile psyche and destroy her last chance at love. Written in 1947 by Tennessee Williams following the monumental success of his Broadway debut, “The Glass Menagerie,” “Streetcar” instantly became a hit and made an American icon of Marlon Brando and an unforgettable female lead in Blanche DuBois. The play also won Jessica Tandy the 1948 Tony Award for Best Actress and the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for drama. Budget Expectations: Performance Rights: $300 ($100 per performance) Scripts: $135 ($7.50 per script x 18) Set Estimate: $500 Prop Estimate: $150 Paint: $75 Costume Budget: $200 _ TOTAL $1,360 This is a higher than usual budget for a show, I realize; however I will be attempting to secure funds from both UPAC and Schreyer Honors College to help fund my “thesis research.” The set for this show is extremely challenging, but crucial to the advancement of the show’s plot, and requires a full fire-escape. Another large portion of the budget is for costumes. I will be setting the show in late 1940’s as a period piece, with help from Katie Mulfinger to create period clothing. The play takes place over several months and each character has several costume changes. I feel the rest of this budget is fairly standard. Vision: My vision for this show is for a highly realistic period piece of high drama. My reason for selecting Streetcar is that the show is truly an actor’s piece and character study. I feel that my strength is working with actors, due to my past experience. For other portions of my show, I have surrounded myself with some great help from the club. AD – Laura Herrmann has studied Tennessee Williams at length and is familiar with his works and has

agreed to help on this show to analyze the script and act as a dramaturg. Tech Director – Mark Celeste is NRT’s current Tech Chair and has unparalleled experience and knowledge

of No Refund Theatre’s tech equipment. The lighting for the show is primarily realistic with sharp contrast; however, there are moments of surrealism as Blanche descends into madness

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Set Design – Below are my current plans for the set, but Jesse Cramer has expressed interest in acting as my set designer for the show, and undertaking the challenge of the ‘fire escape’ scene as well as recreating a lower class New Orleans tenement apartment circa 1950.

Costumes – Katie Mulfinger has offered to design and construct period costumes for the show, which is an

ambitious undertaking, as the show takes place over a summer and each character will require several unique costumes.

Requested Weekend: I would like to perform this show on the last weekend of the first half. I believe that this is traditionally the first or second weekend in March. This is a very difficult show, with a highly technical set, and a lot of very specific dialogue for the four leads. For the purpose of writing portions of my thesis over winter break, I would like to have a cast this November, but would still like as much time as possible to work with my cast in rehearsals. By going in the first half, my actors can memorize their lines over winter break, during which time I will likely be heading to New Orleans for some on-site location research. **On another note, I am aware that Johnna is proposing Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, also by Tennessee Williams. We have discussed this, and would like to be put somewhat far apart as far as weekends are concerned. If possible, we do not want to be back to back, or very close to one another. Similarly, as Jesse Cramer is planning to help me with set design, I would like to be placed apart from Spoon River Anthology and God of Carnage if possible (I don’t foresee this as a problem, as Jesse and I are requesting weekends that are very far apart). **Also, if fewer shows are proposed than there are weekends available, I would certainly appreciate two weeks in Forum to have practice building the set and working out technical details. I think we have shown over the last two years that shows benefit from extra time in the Forum. **Finally, as this is part of my SHC senior thesis, I will need as much time as possible to work on this show prior to the April 15 due date. However, I do not want to have to wait to begin work on my thesis until after break. Conflicts: I must put this show up PRIOR to March 31, 2010. I will be directing this show as part of my senior thesis, which is due April 15. I will need at minimum 2 weeks to complete the write-up for my project. Experience: -I have acted in 14 shows (including the 2nd Vaganza) -I have AD’d 1 show (One-Acts, 2009) -I will have tech-ed 1 show (Dracula) -I have served as VP and am currently president of NRT, and therefore have shown a high level of involvement in the club.

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Auditions/Casting Perhaps the most important part of the entire process of directing a show like this, based so heavily on its characters, is the selection of actors to play the lead roles. No Refund Theatre, because it produces so many shows at once, holds auditions twice a semester for multiple shows at once. Streetcar auditioned at the same time as three other shows. Because all directors are seeing the same actors, and can call back the same people for their plays, a director’s job becomes even more difficult than just trying to select the best man or woman for the job. He must also compete with every other director who may want the same actor for a different role. In preparing for Streetcar auditions, I developed a list of qualities that I wanted for each of my four leads. This list included physical traits, emotional styles, and vocal qualities. Beyond this, I prepared a character biography sheet for each of the leads (seen previously, in Character Analyses), which listed his or her goals through each scene of the play, his or her super-objective, and important things learned of the character from the script. After an actor’s first read, my assistant director and I narrowed down whom we wanted to call back to have read with other actors in short scenes I’d chosen. Because we would only have an hour and a half to devote to callbacks, we limited the number of actors called back for each role to 4, and created a schedule for them to read with one another. (However, once callbacks actually arrived, we deviated quickly from the schedule, and simply paired people with one another to test them reading together.) The process for callbacks was to have a group of the actors come in and read a scene together, and then for me to give them a few notes, and have them read the scene a second time. This tested both the actors’ comfort with the language and gave me a chance to see how they responded to my style of direction. Once we had arrived at our list for the four leads, my assistant director and I chose from those other actors we had called back whom we could place in the supporting and minor roles if they were not cast elsewhere in No Refund Theatre’s season. Cast-List for ‘Streetcar’ Blanche Dubois Juliann Igo Stanley Kowalski Matt Shaffer Stella Kowalski Johnna Scrabis Harold ”Mitch” Mitchell Jason Cassidy Eunice Hubbell Katherine Leiden Steve Hubbell Ryan Bergman Young Collector Matt MacMurchy Matron, Vendor, and Neighbor Torrie Shepherd Pablo Gonzales Jim Dickey Doctor Steve Travis Budget (For a copy of the budget, see Appendix A, p. 58; For a list of props and costumes, see Appendix B, p. 61) Having selected the cast for the show, my focus immediately went to planning a budget for the production. No Refund Theatre is funded primarily by UPAC (The University Park Allocation Committee), with the rest of the club’s financing sourced entirely through donations. Streetcar, I quickly found, is a prop-heavy and set-heavy show. In going through the script noting changes in costume, set pieces, and props required for the show, my budget was quickly growing well beyond what is normal for a No Refund Theatre show. With the help of our club treasurer, I pared down my budget to an acceptable size for a UPAC proposal, but with significant costs to the vision of the show. (I do feel, though, that limiting the budget for the show, and therefore limiting the set and what we could realistically accomplish, helped spur on creativity in both myself, my set designer, and my cast when it came to the detailed minutiae of Williams’ description of the Kowalski household and Blanche’s attire.)

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Ultimately, the budget was funded fully in all categories except costuming. This forced us to abandon many of Williams’ specific details on the dress of his characters, and to ask the audience to suspend their disbelief further with regard to the passage of time. Rather than having different clothes for nearly every scene of the play (which has an episodic structure spanning several months), we gave each character a “base outfit,” which they wore throughout most scenes unless it was demanded they wear something else. For instance, Blanche had a white dress and white sweater that she wore upon arriving, and throughout most of the play as her standard outfit. Stanley wore black slacks and a grey t-shirt, and Stella had a plain dress. Director’s Note: When all was said and done, the show came in well under budget. Set Design (For 3-D renders of the various set designs, see Appendix C, p.65) The design for the set underwent many alterations through the production’s history. It began as a literal interpretation of Stanley and Stella’s apartment. There was to be a visible, 4 foot high platform, which would serve as a sort of stoop from which Stella could look down on Stanley for the iconic scene in which he bellows up to her on the fire escape. After meeting with set designer, Jesse Cramer, it was decided that the raised platform should be moved behind the set in order to increase the room on stage for the actors to work. This design moved away from a literal interpretation of the set, and decided to have the apartment deteriorate from stage right to stage left. Gradually, the walls would be cut shorter and shorter, revealing the frames of the flats, and allow the audience to see actors entering and exiting from behind the stage. This would create dramatic irony for the audience to know something the characters on stage did not. (Further, it would symbolize the destructive power of desire within the Kowalski apartment, with rooms deteriorating as one neared the bed.) However, upon getting into the space, the set design once again changed out of necessity. The platforms took up a lot of room behind the set, and in order to allow enough movement within the two-room apartment, the set needed to be pushed back toward the rear wall in 111 Forum. The idea of the deteriorating walls was abandoned in favor of painting the walls to look aged. Also, the set called for a lot of furniture, which aided in the cramped, run-down feel of Stanley and Stella’s home. In building the set, the cast and crew built a free-standing curtain-rack (for the portieres which separated the two rooms), two platforms which served to replace the fire escape from which Stella descends to Stanley in Scene 3, and an exposed hanging light bulb. In decorating the set, I stuck to a color palette of deep, brick reds and creams, which for me served to represent the desirous Stanley and the moth-like Blanche. Rehearsal Process (For a copy of the Rehearsal Schedule, see Appendix D, p. 67) Table-Read After casting the show in November, my assistant director and I met with the cast once before break to have a table read of the show. The actors were introduced to one another, and given scripts, and we read through Streetcar for the first time together. After the read, I encouraged the actors to go through the script over break to both memorize their lines and learn as much as they can about their characters.

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Blocking Rehearsals (January 12 – 19) After returning from winter break, Streetcar went into a full rehearsal schedule (attached) of 4-5 rehearsals a week through January and February. The production had seven weeks to rehearse, including two weeks in the Forum building (where it would actually be performed). We began the rehearsal process with blocking, in which I directed the actors on the movement of the scene. For this process, I worked through, a three step process. First, the actors read the scene quickly, just to reacquaint themselves with what happened, and to refresh their memories on lines. After this “speed-through,” the actors would take the stage and read through the scene, going line by line, making notes of specific movements that I wanted, certain images I wanted to build, and any notes on the meanings of the text, or motivations for a line. Finally, we would re-run the fully blocked scene once more, without stops, so as to lock in the movements in the actors’ minds. This process made for long rehearsals, during which the actors had to work through scenes several times. While this part of the process was exhausting for the actors, it ensured a deep understanding of Williams’ layered text, and gave the actors several opportunities to discuss with me the meanings and motivations of their lines, as well as opportunity to really enforce the lines in their memory. The final read each night was helpful to the actors, as it gave the opportunity to explore all the new movements and lines without commentary from the director. This is important to allow them to really hit their stride and find their own energy ebbs and flows within the scene. We would end each rehearsal with my notes from the final run of the scene. During these blocking rehearsals, it was imperative to move slowly on each page of the script to really master the complexities of each scene. I never required the actors to stay beyond the scheduled time. Occasionally, we would not get through an entire scene that we had scheduled so that we could be thorough, and still get the actors out on time. This sends two important messages to the cast. First, that every page is equally important. Tennessee Williams writes with a beautifully descriptive language that is often poetic, yet he avoids ever rambling or including unnecessary flourish in his scripts. By not rushing through rehearsals just to finish the scheduled blocking, the cast was engendered with a respect for the importance of each line and a sense of appreciation for the dialogue’s importance. Secondly, by ending on time, and not holding the actors late to finish blocking, it assured them that I respected their time, and that I realized how much work was going into each scene. A two and a half to three hour rehearsal can be exhausting for an actor attempting to play Blanche DuBois or Stanley Kowalski, so being reliable about the time helped get the best out of the actors during these early rehearsals. Working Moment-to-Moment (January 21 – 31) After the blocking rehearsals were completed, we moved on to running full scenes uninterrupted, focusing on moment-to-moment work between the actors/characters. Events within a scene can essentially be broken down into moments, which include expressions made or emotions registered by the actors. Successful moments act as a sort of chain reaction within the scene. Working moment-to-moment early can help establish a strong momentum that pulls the actors through the scene, and will help the scene read truthfully to audiences. These rehearsals began with a discussion, giving the actors a chance to ask any questions they had about the scene, their lines, or character, and a reminder of what had happened in the scene immediately prior to refresh the actors on their characters’ entering circumstances. We would then run the scene once through, pausing only if their were major flaws or hang-ups. After the first run, there would be a five minute break, after which I would give notes about the scene. If there were any drops in energy, or any movements or beats which didn’t work for the scene, we would run just those moments before running the whole scene one more time. This process lasted another ten days, re-running all the scenes we had already blocked and making sure they were strong enough to stand on their own. (Indeed, many scenes in Streetcar are structured as a miniature plays.) Full Act and Show Runs (February 1 – 11) In the final step of the rehearsal process before our two weeks of technical rehearsals in Forum, the last week of rehearsal was spent running acts of the show at each rehearsal, and then finally our first full run of the show. For these nights, each act was only run once, and notes were given after all the scenes in the act

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had been rehearsed. We would only stop the run if it was absolutely necessary to fix something within the scene. After the initial run, notes were given, and any specific moments which needed help were run by themselves. During the first full-run of the show, notes were given after each act, and a few moments were worked on after the entire show had been run. Technical Rehearsals and Set Build (February 14 – 20) After the first full run of the show, I felt that the actors were show-ready. Streetcar was in great shape from a performance perspective. The show is very tech heavy, and the first of our two technical weeks was essentially set aside to work entirely on set, lighting, and sound, as well as gather any remaining necessary props and costumes for the show. The set was built throughout the first week, with the actors running lines, and shorter scenes under the direction of the Assistant Director. While I was concerned about not having the actors run the show fully that first week in Forum, in retrospect it was good to have some time away from rehearsals for the show. The time off stage kept the actors fresh and prevented their rehearsal of the scenes to become just the act of “going through the motions.” Hell-Week and Open Dress (February 22 – 24) Monday – Actual hell-week rehearsals (the week of the show) started off a bit rough, with an incomplete run due to set difficulties and a photographer holding things up a bit. Fortunately, I was able to take thorough notes, which I sent out via email since it was getting a bit late by rehearsal’s end. This rehearsal was dominated by actors’ preoccupations about missing props and costumes. Tuesday – Tuesday was a vast improvement, as for the first time in 111 Forum, we ran a full rehearsal of the show, with full costumes, and all necessary props. After the run, we worked on two specific physical moments (Stanley hitting Stella in Scene 3, and Stanley raping Blanche in Scene 10). These two moments of the play needed to be worked due to the differences in the actual space as compared to our rehearsal spaces in classrooms around campus. Wednesday – Our final dress, which we opened to club members who would not be able to make it to the actual show, did not run smoothly at all. There were several technical issues, with lights firing at the wrong times, sound cues being missed, lines being dropped and props being forgotten. Somehow, though, as many members of the theatre community can attest, a rough rehearsal before opening night can often bring with it smooth sailing for the rest of the run. Indeed, I think that the rough run on Wednesday shocked the actors into being a little nervous for the show, and that nervous energy helped keep them on their toes for the three nights we had our audience. (To read about how the performances went, see the ‘Retrospective’ Section, p. 53) Lighting Design As described, the original Broadway production of Streetcar, designed by Jo Mielziner, featured an extremely complicated lighting arrangement that allowed for a heightened sense of reality and insight into Blanche DuBois’ mind with the use of see-through walls, colored lights, and silhouettes. While No Refund Theatre productions have utilized scrims in the past to create silhouetted scenes, I wanted to go with a more grounded and realistic setting for my lights for several reasons. First, No Refund Theatre is limited in its lighting equipment. The club has 8 working parcams and 4 ellipsoidal focusing lights. These lights are hung on 10 foot metal poles which stand on wooden bases placed around 111. As with our sets, because we perform out of a classroom, our club must make sure that all the tech-rigging can be disassembled every night. With our limited supply or lights, and the need to set up and tear down efficiently every night, I thought it best to keep the lighting rig limited to four vertical poles in the seating of 111, rather than attempt to back light anything or create silhouettes for Blanche’s breaks with sanity. My second reason for keeping lighting simple was my lack of experience. I have never run a lightboard nor designed lighting for a show before. I worked closely with No Refund Theatre’s current Tech Chair, as well as his predecessor, and several other directors from within the club. As a first time director, I was being pulled in many directions for lighting, sound, props, costumes, and running rehearsals with the actors. Needless to say, keeping lighting simple was necessary without an experienced lighting designer.

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The final reason, and the most important, for keeping lighting simple was my vision of Streetcar as an actor’s show. I wanted to avoid upstaging the performances in this show with what David Ball calls “things theatrical.” (Ball, 35) Streetcar is a show about family, desire, and one woman’s inability to let go of her tradition. While Blanche is ultimately driven to a nervous breakdown, spectacle lighting is not necessary to show the audience that she is crazy, and silhouettes of shadow dancers would only detract from the violence and shock of the rape scene. On that note, the rape scene is the only scene in which I chose to adopt a lighting flourish. As Stanley throws Blanche to the bed, and mounts her, the lights quickly shift from the dim, normal house lighting that has been used throughout the show, to a tightly focused red ellipsoidal which covers only the bed. This shift, along with a sudden burst of music was meant to serve as an homage to classic cinema and to dampen the intensity of the rape scene, while making it more bearable to watch for audiences. The following diagram details the layout of the lights throughout 111 Forum: (P) stands for Parcam and (E) stands for Ellipsoidal

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Sound Design Music In a similar deviation from the original, our production would not be using a live band, and would cut many of the sound cues tied in with the mood of the scene. Again avoiding the stylized realism pursued by Kazan and company in favor of natural realism, I did not want the in-scene music to come from nowhere. In fact, the only extra-spatial sound cues I kept from the script were those in which Blanche heard the Varsouvianna playing. I felt these cues, along with the gunshot that ends many of them, served the important purpose of putting the audience inside the mind of Blanche and helped allow them to identify with her growing torture from her past. The music itself helped to cue the audience in on when Blanche was having a break with reality, and forced them to notice the increasing frequency of her attacks. In lieu of playing music during the scenes that was tied directly to the action of the scene or to a specific character, I chose song selections for the brief blackouts between scenes that matched the mood of either the previous scene or the upcoming scene. I used a collection of jazz from various periods and artists, including Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, and Tom Waits. Prior to the show starting, I chose a wide selection of New Orleans jazz from Ken Burns’ jazz album, compiled during the making of his biography on the genre. For the curtain call, I selected Tom Waits’ Closing Time, off his album of the same name, because it was a somber, yet hopeful instrumental piece which features a lone trumpet. Below is a breakdown of the musical selections and a brief explanation of their placement and why they were chosen: Scene1 Semi-Suite by Tom Waits – This song was chosen to follow Scene 1 because it so accurately

captures Stella’s situation. It describes the mistress of a “truck-driving man” who’s life is on the road and who’s love for her is purely sexual. It describes her torture when he’s away, and the “steam heat” that drips from the walls when he’s with her.

Scene 2 Star Eyes by Charlie Parker – Scene 2 ends with Blanche flirting with Stanley then going out on

the town with Stella. At the same time, the poker players are arriving for their night game. The music has an up-tempo jazz swing to it and features a smooth, sensual trumpet. It feels like a night out, but also, the opening bars suggest something foreboding, which act as a forward to the events of Scene 3.

Scene 3 One Mint-Julep by Xavier Cougat – This song plays on the radio during the poker party, when

Blanche finds some rhumba music. Steve suggests it sounds like Xavier Cougat. Wien, Wien nur du allein by Julverne – The second song played on the radio by Blanche, this song

is specifically mentioned in the script by Williams. The waltz has the feel of Blanche’s light and romantic past

Lover Man by Charlie Parker – After Scene 3 ends with Stella accepting Stanley back after hitting

her, the two return to their bedroom to make….amends as Blanche sits helpless outside. Lover Man has a smooth, yet improvisational quality. It is romantic, yet at the same time feels like a bittersweet surrender. It simultaneously represents both Stella and Blanche’s emotions at the scene’s end.

Scene 4 Embraceable You by Charlie Parker – Like the other Parker selections, this song features a solo

trumpet. It was chosen to fit with Stella’s choice of comfort and desire in going back to Stanley. With the lights going down on Scene 4 to Stanley staring at Blanche, the music plays contrapuntally to the menacing end of the act.

Scene 5 Parker’s Mood by Charlie Parker – The trumpet burst at the beginning of this song perfectly

matches Blanche’s flirtations with the young collector. The music then quickly moves into a

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slower, rhythm, with romantic and flirtatious riffing on the trumpet which prepares the audience to shift gears for her date with Mitch.

Scene 6 Little Trip to Heaven by Tom Waits – A slow, romantic ballad from Waits’ first album, Closing

Time, when he had a smoother and younger voice, this song is about finding the perfect one. It is perfect for establishing Blanche and Mitch’s potential for love

Scene 7 It’s Only a Paper Moon by Ella Fitzgerald – Throughout the preceding scene, playing against the

tension on stage Blanche is singing this song from the bathroom, excitedly anticipating Mitch. The scene ends with tensions between Stella and Stanley high and with Blanche concerned about “what has happened.” The hopeful and upbeat romanticism of the song, plays on the Blanche’s hopefulness and reality. Further, the entire song can be read as a metaphor for Blanche’s putting up a veil and hiding behind her “make believe” world.

Scene 8 The Varsouvianna by Alex North – Because scene 9 begins with the Varsouvianna once again

playing in Blanche’s head as she relives her past, I chose to have it play from the blackout at the end of scene 8. After Blanche’s world has been turned upside down by Stanley, this carnival-esque theme seems appropriate for setting the mood. It also emphasizes the direct connectedness of scenes 7 through 10 as following on each others’ heels.

Scene 9 Solo Dancer! Stop! Look! And Listen, Sinner Jim Whitney(The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady)

by Charles Mingus – Following Mitch’s cruelty and attempted rape, this song’s militaristic and desperate drum beat and it’s discordant, siren-like whine at the start of the song match Blanche’s distorted view of reality and seems to answer her screams of “Fire, Fire!” to get Mitch to leave.

Scene 10 Main Theme from A Streetcar Named Desire by Alex North – Primarily chosen for it’s initial

measure of two, two-note crescendos, the song came like a burst signifying Stanley’s actual rape of Blanche. It also served as a perfect homage to the original production, which was a major influence on my selection of the show and my approach to it.

Scene 11 Generique by Miles Davis – The dreamlike echo of Davis’ trumpet in this song is representative

of Blanche’s state of mind by the end of the show. In a world of it’s own, the trumpet seems to be floating up to the clouds, leading our damaged heroine to heaven, where she will finally find peace and redemption.

Q-Lab Regarding the technical side of sound for the show, our production utilized Q-Lab, which is by Apple software and is the industry standard for running sound cues for a live production. The program allows users to create lists of sound cues which can be set to run on timers, on command, with fades, and in sequence, simultaneously, or solo. Having never used the software, I attended a tutorial held by the Tech Chair of No Refund Theatre, in which he demonstrated for me the basic applications of the software. He also pointed me in the direction of FreeSound.org, a user maintained website, which hosts thousands of sound clips for use in film and theatrical productions. Having downloaded all my sound-clips, and selected all my music, I went to work in Q-Lab, which I found fairly easy to learn by playing around. Overall, the show had about 70 cues, with 54 triggers that needed to be fired manually. Using the Macintosh in 111 Forum, along with the sound system (with the projector itself powered down), all the sound cues were controlled from backstage by one individual.

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Below are two screen captures of Q-lab being used for Streetcar:

Figure 1 - Q-Lab being used to create a radio being tuned and faded in to Rhumba music

Figure 2 – Q-Lab being used to edit the sound of a gunshot, to be used to cut off the Varsouvianna playing in Blanche’s mind

Director’s Note: Q-Lab is an invaluable tool and much more user friendly and reliable than using iTunes or comparable music players to manage the sound for a show. Once the sound cues for a show have been programmed into the software, running the sound for a show is as easy as hitting the space bar at the right time on the page. I strongly advise any future NRT directors to take full advantage of learning this software.

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Promotion (To view the complete program, and a page size copy of the poster, see Appendix E, p. 69) No Refund Theatre produces nearly 20 shows a year, so the club certainly has a built in audience of “regulars” which includes club members, faculty, and members of the State College community. But it can be hard to drum up new interest for a single show with such a fast paced schedule. It is not as though the club can afford to put a lot of money and time into promoting one show more than the others. It was my challenge in attempting to promote Streetcar to make it stand out from other things being advertised, and to try to get the club and show noticed by new patrons. I took advantage of the standard methods NRT uses to promote its shows, including fliers, a Collegian write-up, and the program. Additionally, for this production, we tried using a targeted email list and quarter-sheet fliers to place in student mailboxes. Targeted Mailing List The first step I took to promote the show was to email professors around campus. My assistant director compiled a list of professors in American literature, theatre, and film and I wrote separate emails to each of these groups of professors, tailoring my letter to why this show may have been of interest to them and their students. I heard back from several professors and know that many of them passed along the dates of the show to their classes. Poster Every show creates a poster for advertising, and this was the next step for Streetcar. The poster underwent many iterations, all based around the central color scheme of black and dark red, and the theme of a classic film poster. When the poster was finished, we made up fliers to hang around campus, as is usual, but tried some new tactics as well. We printed up large, 11 x 17 posters in color and hung them (with permission) at businesses downtown that either cater to the arts or that have large, visible front windows. Secondly, we created quarter-sheets of paper advertising the show as a thesis, and had them delivered to the honors college mailboxes in Simmons and Atherton.

Figure 1: Quarter-sheet advertisements placed in student mailboxes on campus. The advertisement including the words “Honors Thesis” was specifically distributed at Simmons and Atherton Hall.

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Figure 2: Two early sketches I drew brainstorming the layout for the poster

Figure 3: An early draft of the Streetcar poster, and the final draft with all the photo manipulation complete.

Program The program was designed by my assistant director. More functional, it allows patrons of the show to read a bit about the actors and the production before the show starts. That said, it also serves the purpose of advertising the show and the club in its own way. I had hoped to include headshots of the actors in the program, but we didn’t have the room to do so and keep printing costs low. Director’s Note: In the future, I think this would be a good idea for shows, as it feels more professional.* *Note: After suggesting this to the club, the next show to perform, Vertigo, actually included photographs of the cast in a high-gloss program that looked great.

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Collegian Article As for all No Refund Theatre shows, Streetcar had a promotional write-up in The Daily Collegian in the Venues section. The article included interviews with me and several of the cast members, as well as a photograph taken at one of our dress rehearsals. The article did run a mistaken time for the show in the body of the article, but included the correct times elsewhere. Overall, the write-up served as good publicity, as I think many regular NRT fans check Venues each week to see what the week’s show is. Further, the article high-lighted that the play was a classic, by Tennessee Williams, and that it was worth seeing if you are interested in classic American literature, film, or more famous plays.

Figure 4: Scan of the article from The Daily Collegian, run Thursday, February 25, 2010

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Production Stills Streetcar was photographed twice. Once, during the “hell-week” rehearsals prior to opening night by Erin Lane. The second set of photographs was taken by a friend of a member of the cast on opening night. Below is a series of photos that walks through the show scene by scene to give a look at what the actual production looked like.

“A fur fox piece, half a mile long!”

“Would you help me with the ribbon in back?”

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“Go on, Blanche, say it all…”

“You bet I told him! Mitch is my best bud!”

“I have a little birthday remembrance for you…A ticket!”

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“Rain from heaven”

“Swilling down MY liquor! You know what I say? HA HA!”

“Tiger, tiger…Drop the bottle top!”

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“A sixteen year old boy she’d got mixed up with…”

“You didn’t know Blanche when she was young”

“THAT’s how I’ll clear the table.”

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“Lo and behold this place is Egypt and you are Queen of the Nile”

“Brag brag, bull bull…”

“Luck is believin’ you are lucky”

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“Must we go through that room?”

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RETROSPECTIVE

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Retrospective Looking back on the completed production, I am very proud of Streetcar and consider it a resounding success both by my own standards and by those of No Refund Theatre. Coming in well under budget, the production was effective in both creating a realistic personal drama driven by its characters, and in creating the atmosphere of a 1940’s New Orleans apartment. Successes Chief among the successes of the show was the acting. The performances by Juliann Igo, Matt Shaffer, Johnna Scrabis, and Jason Cassidy stood out as intense and truthful. Returning from winter break completely off-book, Igo’s Blanche was at once dynamic yet fragile. Playing the role on the verge of hysteria, the audience desperately wanted Blanche’s relationship with Mitch to work. Her tragic downfall was heightened by Igo’s extremely subdued final scene, in which she blankly stared ahead, lost in Blanche’s dream. Her performance also succeeded in capturing Blanche’s child-like qualities, earning the crowd’s pity. Also impressive was Shaffer’s Stanley, who was equally adept at displaying a cocky, mean sense of humor (still managing to be funny) and unleashing an explosive anger. His performance was intense, and captured the essence of Stanley. The audience loved his teasing and taunting, and wanted him to uncover Blanche’s history, but were left dumb when he violated Blanche, crushing her so totally. As Stella, Scrabis was a strong and forceful wife. Rather than just being a puppet of Stanley’s who wanted to help her sister, but was powerless to do so, Scrabis’ Stella went toe to toe with Stanley and fought for Blanche. Her inner conflict was apparent though in her frustration with Blanche’s childlike behavior. She spent much of the show fighting her anger for both Blanche and Stanley, but was always motivated by her love for each of them. Scrabis made the audience see how Stella could choose Stanley, she seemed so in love with him. Rounding out the cast was Cassidy’s Mitch, who was spot on. Channeling Karl Malden’s near perfect performance, Cassidy’s Mitch was hopeful, but incapable of standing for himself. His clumsiness came only from his lack of confidence and his smothering relationship with his mother. As Mitch, Cassidy balanced wanting to be a good man, and to sweep Blanche off her feet, with wanting sex and clumsily putting his foot in his mouth. His change in Scene 9 from romantic (if clumsy), leading man to a violent and forceful Mitch out take what he’s “wanted all summer” was genuinely frightening and believably put Igo’s Blanche in a fearful and weakened state leading into her final scene with Stanley. I would not change my method for rehearsing a show in the future. While I at first was concerned to not have more time to do table work with the actors, their success has convinced me that to have more time would have meant to over rehearse. We had one table-read to acquaint the actors with the show, and from then on, their characters were built through the rehearsal process. Given the same amount of time to rehearse the show, I would have kept the same focus on blocking and moment-to-moment work.

As a director, my experience as an actor was enormous help in assisting my actors to find appropriate goals, actions, and tactics within the scenes. I spent time with Igo specifically, running monologues, and helping her to find the natural beats within each of Blanche’s long speeches, and to find what her character hoped to achieve with each of Williams’ monologues.

Further, I found that reading the characters from outside the perspective of playing one, I was able to identify hints about their motivations and pasts more easily than were the actors. When it felt like one of my actors was simply reading a line, without seeming appropriately motivated, I was often able to help find the trigger for that character to say the line. David Ball’s Backwards and Forwards was very helpful in teaching me to read the play to find these triggers.

Beyond just the cast, the conversion of 111 Forum to a cramped, rundown apartment was very successful, and the angled set created visual interest and earned a lot of praise from No Refund Theatre ‘regulars.’ Likewise, tech was a huge success. The lighting was simple, but evocative, particularly the singular use of a tightly focused red light on the bed during the rape scene. I was also very proud of the sound for the show, which took a long time to develop. The sound effects and the music helped to establish the period, atmosphere and general mood of the show. The overall feeling was that of a period drama with nods to classic cinema.

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With a No Refund Theatre production, a director is responsible for artistically designing the show, technically designing the show, acting as stage manager, and often finding properties and costumes. While these are often the jobs of several people in the so-called “real-world” of theatre, it is important to recognize that being a No Refund director means wearing all of these hats. Thanks largely to my experience as a student leader, acting as president of a large organization at Penn State, I was comfortable in managing all elements of this production, and able to delegate where possible. Designing lights, sound, and the set, when all were new to me, was a major success of the production. Difficulties The show was not without faults, however. The foremost problem I found was not having a stage manager. No Refund Theatre shows traditionally performs its shows without a stage manager, because most of the shows do not require many props or costume changes. However, Streetcar is a complicated show with a lot of sound cues, character-specific props, and costume changes. For the first two performances I personally stayed backstage and managed any minor set changes or prop placement and made sure all the actors were set for each entrance. (For a list of all the show’s set changes, see Appendix F, p. 72) In the future, approaching a show as technically complicated as Streetcar, I will make sure to have a Stage Manager involved from the beginning of the process who is intimately familiar with the script and all necessary props.

Beyond the issue with props and costumes, there were deficiencies in the set. Spatially, it was difficult to establish the Kowalski apartment’s relationship to the street. Stanley throws the radio out of a window, yet backstage, there had to be platforms to allow for the classic scene in which Stella slowly descends to Stanley. This confused where street level actually was, though it seemed to be forgiven by audiences. Further, in order to create space for the actors to work, the apartment had to be widened, which compressed the porch area. This cramped area always felt crowded and the sightlines made it difficult to see the actors performing there. Fortunately, this area of the set was rarely used, and this was only a minor problem.

These two problems rest on my shoulders as the director of a No Refund production. While there will traditionally be a stage manager and props master and costumer for a show, Streetcar, like all club shows through No Refund, did not have the luxury of these positions. I think that the greatest lesson I learned in doing this show was that props and costumes for a show need to be acquired early. The more time actors have with the props, the more comfortable they will feel on stage. It became easy for me to get lost in the “big picture” of pursuing a show, but in the future, I will not neglect the little things.

An example of a small, seemingly innocuous detail that I let slide until it was too late regards the bed used in Streetcar. I allowed a plain, off-white bedspread to be used for Stanley and Stella’s bedroom. Arguing that they were poor, and would have mismatched furniture and decorations, I figured it wouldn’t matter, but in retrospect, the blanket disappeared into the cream colored walls, rather than making the bed stand out. My original vision was to have a deep red bedspread to signify the lustful attraction to the bedroom. Even small things like this are the responsibility of a director with this club, and it is a mistake to let them go until too late in the process.

Vision

Finally, in evaluating the success of the show in meeting my initial vision of the show, my feelings are mixed. As described above, I was thrilled with the performances of the actors, and my goal of making this an actor’s show, dependent entirely upon their success with the characters was certainly achieved. While the show held up technically, the set, lights, and sound only served to enhance the actors’ performances and were not what made the show.

However, the message of my vision that the show is a warning about the destructive power of desire may have been somewhat muddied. I do not think that I drew a strong enough parallel between Stanley and desire itself, and I think that Stella’s love for Stanley was too pure as opposed to desirous. Because of this purer love, the audience could identify with Stella’s decision to stay with him, and the tragedy became her failure to see Stanley for what he really is rather than her choice of lustful desire over pure love. Although my intended metaphor may have been somewhat lost, I think what my actors discovered was more truthful, and the show still held up as a tragedy, which is the ultimate goal.

To pursue the vision of Stanley as a metaphor for desire and Blanche as a metaphor for love would have left Blanche and Stanley as caricatures in a Brechtian interpretation of a play, which would have defeated

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my initial purpose of delivering a naturalistic show. In this discovery, I learned that for all the analysis a director can do before going into a show, or indeed, during the process, sometimes, it is trusting one’s instincts and the instincts of the actors that will find the truthful moment and will make the stronger show. It is easy to over-analyze a show and create a high-minded vision, which may be creative, but which may not ultimately work on stage. In summary, looking back, Streetcar was a defining moment of my theatrical career and I really could not be prouder of my directorial debut. I loved working on a drama, and working with such fully rounded and fleshed out characters. Further, tech, though stressful, was effective, and I gained a great deal of experience working on and designing the technical aspects of a show. If there was anything I will do differently, it is that I will make better use of my build time, and plan a more efficient construction of the set. Secondly, I learned the importance of getting props early. The week of a show, the attention of a director is being pulled in so many directions, the last thing I needed to focus on was who needed what small prop or costume piece. Finally, the entire process happened very quickly. Much of my planning and reading of Streetcar was happening as I was auditioning and rehearsing the show. In the future, I have no doubt that completing the research elements of a production before ever proposing it would improve everyone’s experience. Perhaps I could have chosen a simpler show, with fewer technical requirements or a simpler set, fewer props, etc…but diving into directing with Streetcar prepared me to direct anything short of a musical, and I look forward to my next foray onto this side of the stage.

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APPENDICES

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APPENDIX A Budget

Scripts, Rights and Paper Goods Item Quantity Competitor Competitor

Price (each) Preferred Preferred

Price (each) Sub-Total Funding

Requested? Scripts 18 N/A N/A Dramatists

Play Services

$7.50 $ 135.00 Yes

Rights 3 N/A N/A Dramatists Play Services

$100 per night $ 300.00 Yes

Total Requested

$ 435.00

Total Unrequested

$ -

Total $ 435.00

Properties Item Quantity Competitor Competitor

Price (each) Preferred Preferred

Price (each) Sub-Total Funding

Requested? Food Apples 12 GIANT $0.30 WalMart $0.25 $3.00 No Potatoe Chips (bags)

3 GIANT $1.99 WalMart $1.49 $4.47 No

Bread (loaves) 2 GIANT $1.49 WalMart $0.88 $1.76 No Coke 1 GIANT $5.99 WalMart $4.00 $4.00 No Grapes 1 GIANT $3.00 WalMart $2.50 $2.50 No Birthday Cake 7 GIANT $7.00 WalMart $4.88 $34.16 No Blanche's Stuff Atomizer 1 bestbottles.

com min. $40 purchase

Amazon.com

$8.36 $8.36 Yes

Hand Fan 1 Target $ 29.99

Amazon.com

$3.95 $3.95 No

Household Items Breakable Plate 5 N/A N/A Alfonso's

Breakaway Glass

$18 $90.00 Yes

Breakable Cup 5 N/A N/A Alfonso's Breakaway Glass

$16 $80.00 Yes

Breakable Bottle 1 Alfonso's Breakaway Glass (per unit)

$24 Theatrefx.com (6-pack)

$123 $123.00 Yes

Paper Lantern 1 Target (set of 10)

$14.99 Amazoncom (set of 12)

$9.99 $9.99 No

Cake Candles 2 Amazon.com (12-pack)

$2.69 WalMart (25-pack)

$4.88 $9.76 No

Miscellaneous Red Roses 12 www.afloral

.com $2.99 WalMart $1.98 $23.76 No

Cigarettes 4 McLanahan's

$4.30 Sheetz $4.10 $16.40 No

Total Requested

$ 301.36

Total Unrequested

$ 113.75

Total $ 415.11

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Costumes and Makeup Item Quantity Competitor Competitor

Price (each) Preferred Preferred

Price (each) Sub-Total Funding

Requested? Satin (yards) 2 N/A N/A Wholesale

Source (per yard)

$10 $20 Yes

Baroque Satin (yards)

3.5 N/A N/A Wholesale Source (per yard)

$10 $35 Yes

Lining (yards) 1 N/A N/A Wholesale Source (per yard)

$8 $8 Yes

Jersey or Shantung (yards)

3 N/A N/A Wholesale Source (per yard)

$10 $30 Yes

Seersucker (yards 3 N/A N/A Wholesale Source (per yard)

$12 $36 No

Closures 3 N/A N/A Wholesale Source (per yard)

$7 $21 Yes

Zipper 2 N/A N/A Wholesale Source (per yard)

$3 $6 Yes

Egyptian Linen/Cotton (yards)

3 N/A N/A Wholesale Source (per yard)

$10 $30 No

Linen Blend (yards) 6 N/A N/A Wholesale Source (per yard)

$12 $72 Yes

Satin Jacquard (yards)

3.5 N/A N/A Wholesale Source (per yard)

$14 $49 Yes

Hats 4 N/A N/A Wholesale

Source (per hat)

$15 $60 No

Gloves 1 Rag and Bone

$14.00 Target $12.99 $13 No

Blue Denim Work Clothes

2 Wal Mart $31.00 Amazon.com

$30.29 $61 Yes

Undershirts/Beaters (packs)

3 Wal Mart $18.00 Target $11.99 $36 No

Red Satin Bathrobe 1 personilization.com

$39.99 Amazon.com

$34.99 $35 Yes

Pyjamas 1 Amazon.com

$39.99 Wal Mart $17.00 $17 Yes

Kimono 1 Amazon.com

$26.95 Target $19.99 $20 Yes

Total Requested

$ 373.56

Total Unrequested

$ 174.96

Total $ 548.52

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Set Item Quantity Competitor Competitor

Price (each) Preferred Preferred

Price (each) Sub-Total Funding

Requested? 4' x 8' Luan Panels 6 Home

Depot $12.99 Lowe's $11.99 $ 71.94 Yes

Paint (cans) 4 Discountpaint.com

$9.42 Lowe's $7.97 $ 31.88 Yes

Curtains 4 Wal Mart $22.99 Target (5' x 6')

$19.99 $ 79.96 Yes

Lumber (curtain rack, molding, railing, shelving, Flooring, Stove, Icebox)

1 Home Depot

$250 Lowe's $200 $ 200.00 Yes

Kitchen Table and Chairs

1 Wal Mart $53.60 Target $47.00 $47.00 Yes

Drapes (2) 10' x 6' Wal Mart $22.99 Target (5' x 6')

$19.99 $39.98 No

Fan 1 Target $39.99 McLanahan's

$24.00 $24.00 No

Coat Rack 1 Target $29.99 Amazon.com

$17.00 $17.00 No

Total Requested

$ 430.78

Total Unrequested

$ 80.98

Total $ 511.76

Grand Total Requested

$1,540.7

0

Grand Total UnRequested

$ 369.69

Grand Total $1,910.39

Percentage Requested

80%

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APPENDIX B

Props and Costumes Below are the properties and costume lists for the show. The properties list divides properties both by character and by scene. Many of the costumes ultimately had to be abandoned due to budgetary and time constraints.

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Costumes Blanche -White Hat, White Jacket, White Dress, White Gloves -Flowered Dress -Red Satin Bathrobe -White Dress, Silver Shoes -Blue suit and skirt Stanley -Blue Denim Work Clothes -Bowling Jacket -Bright Green Button down (short sleeve) x2 (one torn) -Undershirts -Beaters -Seersucker Slacks (grey) -Tie -Silk Pyjamas -Black/Brown shoes Stella -Plain dress -Nice Dress for scene 3 -Blue Kimono -Slip -Plain shoes Mitch -Blue Denim Work Clothes -Dress shirt -Tie -Suit/Blazer -Bright button down (short sleeve) -Black or Brown shoes Eunice -Plain Grey dress and apron Negro Woman -Bright Red Dress -Bright Scarf -Bright Shoes Street Vendor Woman -Nun Outfit (hood) -Black shoes Matron -Black/Grey Jacket -Long Black/Grey Skirt -Black/Grey Hat

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Steve -Beater -Slacks -Denim Shirt -Black Shoes Pablo -Tan/Khaki Slacks -Latin influence shirt -Straw Hat -Black Shoes Newspaper Boy -White collared shirt -Tan Slacks -Bow Tie -Black Shoes Doctor -Black Suit -Black Hat -Black Shoes -Black Tie -White Shirt

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APPENDIX C Set Designs The set design for Streetcar went through many incarnations at various stages in production. Ultimately, it looked much like the figures 2 and 3.

Figure 1: The first design for the set. It included a raised entrance to the apartment, a stoop, from which Stella could descend to

Stanley.

Figure 2: The second design for the set, modified to include a slanted back wall and a backstage platform for Stella’s descent. Close

to what was the final, working layout.

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Figure 3: The second set design from a different angle, with a view of the rear platforms.

Figure 4: A third design that was meant to symbolize the destructive power of desire, by having the apartment rot away the deeper

one entered. The expense of the luan paneling for flats was the primary deterrent of this design.

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APPENDIX D

Rehearsal Schedule Characters By Scene Scene 1: Stanley, (Mitch), Stella, Eunice, (Neighbor), Blanche, (Steve) Scene 2: Stanley, Stella, Blanche Scene 3: Steve, Pablo, Mitch, Stanley, Eunice, Stella, Blanche Scene 4: Blanche, Stella, Stanley Scene 5: Stanley, Stella, Eunice, Steve, Blanche, Paper Boy, (Mitch) Scene 6: Blanche, Mitch Scene 7: Stanley, Stella, Blanche Scene 8: Blanche, Stanley, Stella Scene 9: Mitch, Blanche, Vendor Scene 10: Stanley, Blanche Scene 11: Stanley, Pablo, Mitch, Steve, Eunice, Blanche, Stella, Doctor, Matron Scenes By Character Blanche: All Scenes Stanley: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11 Stella: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11 Mitch: (1), 3, (5), 6, 9, 11 Eunice: 1, 3, 5, 11 Steve: 3, 5, 11 Pablo: 3, 11 Neighbor: 1 Paper Boy: 5 Doctor : 11 Matron: 11 Vendor: 9 Character/Scene Chart Scene

1 Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

Scene 5

Scene 6

Scene 7

Scene 8

Scene 9

Scene 10

Scene 11

Blanche Stanley Stella Mitch Eunice Steve Pablo Neighbor Paper Boy

Vendor Matron Doctor

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APPENDIX E Program and Poster

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APPENDIX F Set Changes For the first two performance of the show, I remained backstage to oversee the set changes and that the props were all set. Without a Stage Manager, and with such a tech-heavy show, I wanted to be behind the scenes to make sure the first few runs with an audience went smoothly. Below is a table that lists all set changes that occurred every night for Streetcar.

Act 1

Everything Pre-Set for Scene 1

Scene 1 - Blanche's Arrival

Carry on the Trunk; Make Sure Stanley's Clothing is put away

Scene 2 - Deep Sea Diver

Pack Blanche's things back into her trunk; take off the box lid (on bed) Scene 3 - Poker Night

No Change Scene 4 - Cleaning Up

INTERMISSION

Act 2

Empty glasses and place in Cabinet; Replace liquor in cabinet

Double check for candle and matches

Leave Blanche's Pen and notebook

Clean coins/cards/beer bottles and take off beer cases

Scene 5 - Writing a letter to Shep

No Change Scene 6 - Date with Mitch

INTERMISSION

Act 3

Put candle back on top of cabinet

Empty glasses and place in cabinet; replace liquor in cabinet; strike Coke Set cake, candles, and icing

Double check for glasses, plates, tablecloth, and silverware

Put Blanche's pen and notebook in purse

Scene 7 - Icing the Cake

No Change Scene 8 - The Smashing scene

Strike cake/plates/silverware/candles/tablecloth

Sweep floor Get glass with water for Blanche (offstage)

Put Away his bowling shirt if it's on stage

Scene 9 - Mean Mitch

Have tiara, dress, and wine bottle for Blanche

Make sure Stanley has a beer bottle with a cap filled

Scene 10 – Rape Scene

Strike crown (on couch)

Spread some of Blanche's clothes from her trunk on the bed

Sweep floor Scene 11 - Kindness of Strangers

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adler, Thomas P., A Streetcar Named Desire – The Moth and the Lantern, Twayne Publishers, Boston, © 1990

Ball, David, Backwards & Forwards – A Technical Manual for Reading Plays, Southern Illinois University

Press, Carbondale, © 1983 Ball, William, A Sense of Direction – Some Observations on the Art of Directing, Drama Publishers,

Hollywood, CA © 1984 Berg, Randy, Opening Night Photos, Property of Randy Berg, State College, PA, © Feb. 25, 2010 Kolin, Phillip C., Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY

© 2000 Lane, Erin, Streetcar Production Stills, Property of Erin Lane, State College, PA, © Feb. 23, 2010 Tilley, Robin. "NRT stages classic Tennessee Williams play." The Daily Collegian [Venues]

State College, PA, Feb. 25, 2010: 10. Williams, Tennessee, A Streetcar Named Desire, Signet Classics, Penguin Publishing Company, New

Jersey, © 1947 Williams, Tennessee, “On a Streetcar Named Success,” New York Times, New York, NY, © Nov. 30,

1947

Academic Vita - J. Samuel Horvath Local Address 811 W. College Avenue State College, PA 16801 e.mail: jsh5062@psu.edu

EDUCATION

Pennsylvania State University - Schreyer Honors College Scholar at Penn State University - Finance Major, Smeal College of Business, Class of 2010 - Dean’s List every semester - Recipient of President’s Freshman Award

WORK/VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE

Susquehanna Group Advisors, Summer 2008 Financial Advisor Intern - Edited and updated Official Statements for Tax-Exempt General Obligation Bonds - Researched historical LIBOR and SIFMA rates on Bloomberg for modeling and

analysis - Assisted in the preparation of debt restructuring and interest rate swap analyses for

clients - Attended client meetings with Managing Director, assisting in presentation of

proposal - Worked extensively with Excel using complex financial, logical, and date formulas

University Park Allocation Committee, Spring 2006-Fall 2007 Member - Organized weekly meetings, developed itinerary, and published newsletter - Served on Allocation Board which established budget allocations for clubs and

organizations - Distributed allocation letters and maintained regular office hours to answer

questions THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE

No Refund Theatre, Fall 2006 – Present - Director – A Streetcar Named Desire, Spring 2010 - Assistant Director – A Night of One-Acts, Fall 2009 - Crew – Dracula, Fall 2009

- Actor in 15 shows, Fall 2006 – Spring 2010 President, May 2009 – Present - Acted as liaison to the University and served as a member of the Show Selection

Committee - Created a club handbook outlining the purpose and procedures of the club - Created Disciplinary Guidelines and Club sanction procedure(s)

- Strengthened the relationship between NRT and Penn State OPP securing the club’s continued use of 111 Forum

Vice President, May 2008- Present - Produced, promoted, or performed in more than 20 shows a year - Created and served on Show-Selection Board - Coordinated the audition process and, when necessary, resolved conflicts among

directors - Created a Facebook© group and utilized promotional flyers, mail campaigns, and

podcasts as part of an aggressive PR Campaign which improved audition turnout and show attendance