[NEohioPAL] REVIEW: Streetcar at North Canton Playhouse

[Tom Wachunas]

 Elysian Fields On Fire
By Tom Wachunas 
    In the creative
set designed by Christopher Lesho, two potent symbols from Tennessee Williams’
most acclaimed play,A Streetcar Named
Desire, remain visible at one end of the North Canton Playhouse mainstage
throughout the show. One is a street sign marked Elysian Fields, where Stanley
and Stella Kowalski live in a shoddy, claustrophobic apartment. It’s no small
irony that the avenue is named for the mythological resting place of virtuous
and heroic souls. Additionally, the adjacent signs bear the names of streetcars
– Desire and Cemetery. And it is certainly at the intersection of desire and
death where Blanche DuBois, a road-weary, wilted Southern belle, visits her
younger sister Stella in the blistering summer heat of New Orleans.
    But this is no
congenial family reunion. It is, rather, a desperate reconnoitering. Here is a
smoldering battlefield, where terribly flawed personalities and volatile
histories circle each other warily at first, then ultimately collide in an
unforgettable firestorm of psychosexual and emotional tension. Generally
speaking, this production brings an American classic to electrifying life via
the impeccably skilled ensemble cast directed by Mary McManaway.
    In her role of
Stella, Tessa Gaffney offers a subtly impassioned, deftly constructed study of
affections torn asunder. She stomachs her husband’s various abuses with an
almost cavalier romanticism. Inexorably caught between her fierce (sometimes
mystifying) spousal loyalty and equally fierce defense of her demented sister,
she’s finally forced to make an agonizing decision not too unlike Sophie’s
Choice.
    If there’s any
relief from the viciously contentious life transpiring in the Kowalski
apartment, it’s provided by the married couple living upstairs, Eunice and
Steve. In those roles, Kathy Lewis Snyder and Jeff White are delightfully
gritty and at times downright hilarious, particularly in their beer-lubricated,
implied lovemaking bouts that follow a vociferous fight. 
    It is a memorable
and convincing tonal palette – a facile chiaroscuro of character - that Al
LaFleur IV brings to his portrait of Stanley Kowalski. On the one hand he’s
every bit the “commoner” and “animal” that Blanche finds so abhorrent - insufferably
proud, relentlessly sardonic and rude, with a hair-trigger temper. On the other,
he’s genuinely protective and affectionate in an awkward sort of way, even to
the point of sniveling repentance.
   For sheer sustained,
emotive intensity, though, the fire that burns the hottest in this torrid tale
is in the character of Blanche. ‘Riveting’ doesn’t begin to do justice to how
effectively Marci Sailing Lesho nails the role. In truth, there are arguably
too many moments when her Southern drawl is so mannered, so rhythmically
affected, that her words become sing-songy mush. Maybe it’s an over-the-top
attempt to bring out the powerful lyricism of Tennessee Williams’ language. In
any event, it’s a forgivable enough flaw when encountering the gripping
substance Lesho brings to her character’s monstrous narcissism, pathetic
delusions and elaborate deceptions. And speaking of gripping substance, when
Blanche screams, it’s a bone-rattling aural phenomenon.
    Her deceptions are
systematically exposed, destroying her sanity, not to mention her last chance
at real love, embodied by Ted Paynter in his role of Stanley’s best friend,
Mitch. Paynter delivers an absorbing portrayal of disarming transparency – an engaging
mix of tenderness, anguish and anger.   
    Let’s briefly
consider expectations. Who, after all, could ever wholly forget the
unprecedented power and startling rawness of the 1951 film? That film, the one wherein Marlon
Brando’s sweat-drenched cries of “Stella! Stella!” became, forever it would
seem, one of our most indelible markers of great acting. But that was indeed film, this is the stage. Each has intrinsic methodologies and challenges in
communicating authentic human drama.
    So yes, there are
echoes of the film in this production. But the theatrical challenges are
well-met here, and I think those filmic echoes are sufficiently faded enough
for us to hear truly momentous, unique voices. Voices immersed in compelling
immediacy. Bravo.
      A Streetcar Named Desire, SEPTEMBER 20,
21, 22 at the North Canton Playhouse, 525 7th Street, North Canton.
Tickets: $13 Adults $12 Seniors and Students. Buy Tickets Online at www.northcantonplayhouse.com  or call the box office at 330.494.1613  Showtimes: Friday and Saturday at 8:00pm and
Sunday at 2:30pm
    For other
commentaries by Tom Wachunas on the performing and visual arts in Canton, visit
his blog at  www.artwach.blogspot.com
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