With Modern Flair and Sprinkles of Spanish
From opening the theatre year with a new play to tackling one of the classics that San Diego has not seen in practically two decades, Backyard comes full throttle with their production of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire. Rob Lutfy directs the multi-layered whopper of a story that is taking hold of Tenth Avenue Arts until July 12th.
Blanche (Jessica John) arrives at her sister Stella’s (Megan Carmitchel) house in New Orleans. Although the space is cramped, and Blanche has a lot of baggage (both figuratively and literally), Stella is delighted to host her big sister. Stanley (Francis Gercke), Stella’s husband, is not necessarily ecstatic about the guest, and this becomes apparent as the days pass. Harold (MJ Sieber), Stanley’s colleague and poker-playing friend, seems like a good candidate for Blanche and vice versa. Blanche’s emotional fragility is thrust upon her sister’s dysfunctional and violent marriage. This, combined with the truths regarding Blanche’s past, boils everything down to a crisis with a heartbreaking resolution.
The beginning of the play is abrupt, fast, and loud, which is a bright and effective way to start, considering the runtime is three hours and thirty minutes with two intermissions. This immediately set the pace, showcasing the creative aspects, such as Yi-Chien Lee’s two-story set design of the Kowalskis’ home and surroundings.
Lufty’s direction is melodic and delicate, especially in the rougher scenes, where instead of approaching them straight on, there was a dance around, making it ethereal and different. With Evan Eason and Marilyn Do’s sound filling the absence of lines during the dances, the space vibrated, and the audience clenched in their seats.
I love when lighting goes around differently in parallel to separate each of the scenes, and Curtis Mueller’s design did just that. There is a scene with William Huffaker in a corner, brightly lit, that was as intense as it was beautiful. Huffaker’s participations were brief and scattered, but memorable and intense. Jeffrey Neitzel’s props accentuated the clutter as well as the poker gatherings in Stanley and Stella’s house, and his special effects intensely pumped both the silent scenes and the heavily charged ones, giving two cliffhanging cuts to intermission as well as a gasping end.
Jessica John, who won the Craig Noel award last year for her role as Barbara in August: Osage County, has also given us other gems, such as Veronica in God of Carnage and the hilarious Beverly in Abigail’s Party. Well, her Blanche, I believe, is one of her best roles yet, delivering a combination of frailty with passion and grit. In the performance I saw, it seemed she was struggling with a cold, and she pulled through like a champ.
A noteworthy aspect of this production is that both Jessica John and Megan Carmitchel captured that strong sisterly bond between the DuBois, conveying what they have gone through as well, and how Stella gets Blanche, which is what triggers Stanley. There’s also this notable comfort between Carmitchel, Gercke, and Sieber as they’ve shared the stage before, and that implicitly puts the audience at ease. Tennessee Williams’ characters are complex, with multiple layers that range from idiosyncrasy to religion and family. It is not just a one-sided/maybe thing. Megan delivered that denial coated with lust revolving around Stella, while Francis Gercke embodies the macho bruteness that is disarming and clashes with Blanche. I mentioned that perfect pike Gercke did in my review of Misery. (I seriously need to know this actor’s workout routine.). MJ Sieber also captures Harold’s longing for love, mixed with desire and macho-ness, accurately. It’s interesting to see how the histrionic dynamic varies between MJ and Jessica across the different plays.
We have seen Faith Carrion in various musicals, including Diversionary’s Head Over Heels and TL;DR: Thelma & Louise; Dyke Remix. I missed their performance in Cygnet’s Rocky, as another actor was playing the role when I attended. However, I can say that her vocals in this play are stunning. Even though these other productions have been musicals, it is here that the vocals have been showcased the best. Giving a beautiful, bare rendition of the Oaxacan song La Llorona and one other that just meshed so well with what was happening all around. Having this contrast between the New Orleans, southern setting and the Spanish was a chef’s artistic kiss. Markuz Rodriguez as Pablo, whom I was happy to see on the Backyard Rennaisance stage, threw some Spanish here and there that felt kind of like -in there- but cute. There is a brief drag moment that was cool. Dianne Yvette was engaging and gave a fierce performance as Eunice, working well with Layth Haddad as Steve, who also brought intensity.
Danita Lee’s costumes were fun. Sensual with a hint of grunge for the ladies, flirty and southern belle for Blanche, and wife-beater, bowling league vibes for the men. The southern accent was delightful, courtesy of Susanne Sulby’s coaching, which involved modulation, and it was cool to see.
The only reference I had for ‘Streetcar, before was the National Theatre’s production that streamed during the pandemic, and it made a comeback this year.
This is one of those plays that takes on a different meaning with age.
Backyard Rennaisance’s production has an army of creatives and people behind it that made it solid.
Chad Ryan is the technical director, with Ian David Boyd as assistant tech director. George Ye is the fight choreographer, and Julie Lorenz the charge artist.
Anna Younce is the stage manager, with assistant stage manager Noah Schossow.
Currently playing until July 12th
