KPFA Theatre Critic Richard Wolinsky reviews the Streetcar Project’s production of “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams at ACT Toni Rembe Theatre through February 1, 2026.
TEXT OF REVIEW (some changes were made during recording and cuts for timing were made for radio).
The greatest of plays often allow for multiple interpretations. We see that all the time in Shakespeare. We see it in Arthur Miller, in the musicals of Rodgers and Hammerstein, even in August Wilson. And of course we see it in Tennessee Williams.
Most interpretations of Williams’ second play, A Streetcar Named Desire, are inhibited by the famous movie, which catapulted Marlon Brando to fame. It’s hard to see Blanche Dubois beyond Vivien Leigh’s faded Southern belle, and it’s even harder to see the crude Stanley Kowalski past Brando’s scream of “Stella!”
But those interpretations, however close to Williams’ wishes, obscure the play’s lyricism and more to the point, his greatest creation, Blanche Dubois.
This production by The Streetcar Project, now at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theatre through February 1st, which has played in a variety of site-specific spaces, changes the paradigms, first by removing all props and sets, and second by discardmg the characters’ accents, particularly that of Blanche Dubois, played by project co-creator, Lucy Owen. In addition, the full text has been restored.
In this production, the stage area is fully open, bounded on three sides by two rows of audience members on folding chairs. Characters wander on and off stage, their voices carry but their bodies are sometimes hard to find.. it can feel like a reading, a radio play, but not always, and not in Act Two.
What this shows now is that Streetcar is clearly Blanche’s play. Whether with her sister, Stella, beautifully embodied by Heather Lind – their sisterhood is palpable, or with Mitch, Stanley’s friend who falls for Blanche, played by James Russell as a product of his era, or with the brutal Stanley, performed by Brad Koed, who never quite escapes Brando.
Without the accent, without the affectations, Lucy Owen’s Blanche is revealed as brilliant, incisive, misunderstood and wronged. Her lies are no longer signs of weakness; they’re not delusional; they’re necessary for her survival, and the survival of her pride. It’s a fascinating interpretation, which Williams’ poetic dialogue om;y amplifies. She’s caught in the trap of her times, and it’s brought her down low.
While much is gained here, something is also lost. Concessions to time and place come from the sound system and from costumes, but much of the action becomes incomprehensible without visible cues and with only the four actors. The giant stage, the cavernous theatre weaken the passion between Stella and Stanley. Chemistry vanishes when characters seem a football field apart. Would such a strong Blanche break so thoroughly at the end of the play?
But whatever those issues, this is a Streetcar well worth visiting in its short run, through February 1st. For more information, you can go to act-sf.org. I’m Richard Wolinsky on Bay Area theatre for KPFA.