REVIEW: A Streetcar Named Desire | west end play starring Patsy Ferran, Paul Mescal, Anjana Vasan 

when i saw it at the almeida, anjana vasan was ill and francesca knight (who's blanche's understudy) had to fill in as stella, she was amazing as she was reading the script off the book, and patsy and paul did an incredible job at working with someone else. was blown away by the adaptability they all had it was truly incredible

i somehow managed to see this one at both the almeida and the phoenix and when paul mescal took off his shirt in the almeida the entire audience audibly inhaled 10/10 perfect show

saw the show at the Phoenix and thought Patsy was outstanding! I was saying to my friend that it was crazy that I believed a 33 year old woman (who looked around 20) to truly be an older woman due to her physicality and emotion. incredibly impressive

Any mention of Tennessee Williams always reminds me of an anecdote. As you may know, he and Gore Vidal were friends. And according to Williams, one of the boozy nights they spent in a gay bar looking for companionship, when it appeared they had both struck out, Tennessee half-seriously suggested that they go home together. To which Vidal allegedly replied, "Don't be macabre." And if that isn't the most savage refusal ever, I don't want to hear what is.

I was also so lucky get to front row seats for the matinee before closing night. I also met Paul at Stage door and got his autograph. Patsy Farran absolutely blew me away!! And I’m now reading everything Tennessee Williams because of this fantastic production

Love this play. Watched the Vic production online during the pandemic. I hope, one day, this version will be available to watch too.

I loved the production at the Old Vic with Gillian Anderson! She was incredible and the slowly rotating set was a fantastic effect (a metaphor for spinning out of control!)

I watched a video with Paul Mescal, where he says his name is pronounced the much flatter 'mess cull', and he, possibly jokingly, said he wished he had changed it to the fancier version. I could be wrong, though.

I definitely felt the claustrophobia was enhanced at the ALMEIDA during its run there, due to just simply having the audience surround the stage too. Definitely felt that was something missing at the Phoenix during its run there- could they have considered selling the front row and doing ON stage seating for those with the day seat glowsticks?!

I was awed by Patsy’s performance in Summer & Smoke and I’m so bummed to have missed this. Thanks for your review. Hopefully they consider bringing it back in a more suitable venue (smaller, more intimate).

Interesting to hear your thoughts about the categorization of who was lead and who was supporting. The roles have always been perceived as Stanley and Blanche being leads and Stella being the first feature, if you will.

I saw a production of Streetcar where the actress playing Blanche played her comedically with an over-the-top southern accent and makeup running down her face like Tammy Faye. It was REDICULIOUS!

I’ve been waiting for this one. Turn it up !!!!

Streetcar is one of my favorite plays and I really hope there’s going to be a proshot of the Almeida West End version! The Young Vic version, which starred Gillian Anderson, was removed at NT at Home app months ago. Maybe perhaps to give way to this? I don’t really know. Also hoping they have a Broadway transfer for this. They’d probably have to work around the actors’ schedules (Paul is doing Gladiator 2 and Patsy is about to open Pygmalion at the Old Vic months from now). I’m curious as to why Streetcar isn’t often staged on Broadway the way there’s numerous revivals of The Glass Menagerie.

A glowing review which makes it more urgent to have it resurface in NYC. 👍🙏

Studying this for English and I loved this performance! ❤

I saw this a couple of weeks ago, having never seen it before and having just the vaguest idea of what the story was. (Once the story unfolded I realised I knew more than I thought - I probably watched the Brando film at some point.) I was near the front of the circle, with a pretty good view. I agree with you about Paul and Anjana, I think people in the audience were shaking when Stanley started shouting and throwing things. I was. I do agree also that Patsy wasn't right for this part - at times, from the circle, she looked like a teenage girl, not someone with this long and scandalous past. And may I mention volume? I'm getting on a bit but there's nothing wrong with my hearing. At times - very many times - I found it very difficult to hear what Patsy was saying. I heard a few people talking about this as they left. There didn't seem to be any effort at projection and there was no amplification. Oh boy, I disagree about the drumming. I read somewhere that it was meant to represent the streetcars going by - the ironic thing being that at the Phoenix you can hear real trains rumbling beneath you. I found the drumming very intrusive, so loud that it occasionally drowned out dialogue. I heard people complaining about that too! So my overall impression - despite some good performances and some inventive staging - was that it was a tad disappointing. Last Friday I saw Private Lives, another play about toxic relationships with added domestic violence. Perfect diction and a really classy play. And no blinking rain curtains and drumming.

I love this play, I read Blanche's part when we did a readthrough for English class, complete with a (probably terrible) Southern US acceent 😅 In the scene where Stanley assaults Blanche I was acting up a storm and I think the stage directions said Stanley flicked his tongue dangerously at her or something, I looked over at the guy reading Stanley and he just stuck his tongue out which wasn't very scary! If anyone wants to see Paul Mescal being sinister then I saw a film called God's Creatures recently where he plays an Irish guy who comes back to his home town, he was pretty chilling.

Paul Mescal’s surname is pronounced without emphasis on the second syllable or elongating it

Tennessee Williams is my favorite American playwright, so I'm glad "STREETCAR" is still being done LIVE! and, apparently done well. The National (??) production you mentioned with Gillian Anderson was recorded. I obtained a copy on DVD and let's just say I found it "interesting" and often off the mark. I would have loved to have seen the acclaimed production directed by Liv Ullmann starring Cate Blancett as Blanche. Yes, I've seen the three "preserved" productions; starring Vivien Leigh, Ann-Margaret, and Jessica Lange as Blanche, respectively.

i read the play but have never seen it live so i am praying it comes to Broadway

If this show returns to bway, i empty my bank account. Because I've always wanted to see it on stage

Also I don’t understand how the rain works since so much of the play is about the HEAT and Blanche trying to escape it in the “cool bath” she wouldn’t need the escape if it was raining!?

If I ever see a production that has a rain curtain the whole time I know it was you

I’m in America. And, odds are I won’t be able to see this in person. Does anyone know if it will be available on DVD or streaming? I have seen the movie and in person with local actors BUT I have been a fan of Mescal since Normal People. I’ve seen other projects of his and they were very good and very different to “Connell”. But, would really love to see him tackle Stanley. I am also from Louisiana and heard a snippet of Mescal’s accent as Stanley. It was SPOT ON!!!!! It was not too much of a drawl and sounded very authentic. I live about 5 hours North of New Orleans and Louisiana has many different accents but again he just didn’t overdo it. It sounded perfect.😊

I really hope they transfer this to NYC. With the ongoing WGA strike, I would think that Mescal is free right now and would be able to do a STRICTLY LIMITED run on Broadway. This would sell really well on Broadway!

Unfortunately, the best chance for a wider audience to see this is if it was filmed, NT-style. Does anyone here know if it was? Surely, as plugged in as MickeyJo is, he would know (?) As a New Yorker, I would have loved to see it transfer to Broadway, but that seems like the unlikeliest of pipe dreams. Mescal, who at the moment is the hottest leading man in films and with whom every prominent film director in the world wants to work with (I think he missed upsetting Brendan Fraser's Oscar by a hair), is about to begin filming "Gladiator 2" any minute, which will keep him tied up for the better part of a year. And, as I understand it, after that, he's got film projects lined up that's about a mile long (including the multi-decade long film version of "Merrily We Roll Along"). Carving out a 2-month long engagement on Broadway between film shoots will be harder than moving heaven and earth to do. Good luck with that!

Rain curtain in streetcar vs the rain curtain in the crucible FIGHT

Was He(played Stanley) as good as Brando? I doubt it. If anybody can answer this I would be delighted.

I was surprised you don’t believe Stanley is a lead character in Streetcar. I’ve seen the movie multiple times and at least eight other productions and in all of them the key focus is the relationship between Blanche and Stanley. Stella is an important supporting player and Mitch less so. I hope this production comes to Broadway. I think Paul Mescal is the most exciting new actor since Heath Ledger. Hopefully he will have a long, rewarding career on stage and film.

I saw Steetcar as a revival in the early 90’s on Broadway with Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange. It was fantastic! I don’t think I would want to another production of it.

Who was supposed to play Blanche before Patsy filled in?

❤Blanche 🎉🎉🎉

C

So for me, streetcar named desire works best when the actress isn’t that old and doesn’t look that old. I think that’s a big point of the play- prejudice isn’t just race and ethnicity and money and homosexuality, if you’re a women, you also can’t be even the tiniest bit older or it’s like ugh. This man who loves her suddenly doesn’t anymore because he saw who she truly is. And yet when she lies, she gets torn apart for that. It’s a catch 22

I found it lacklustre only engaging in certain scenes If it were not for Patsy Ferran and Anjana Vasan it would have been even worst.

Patsy had so many accents on this play that it was distracting....