Tennessee Williams's play A Streetcar Named Desire has been turned into a film (Marlon Brando, Vivian Leigh) and an opera (Frederika Von Stade). Soon, Ignite Community Theatre presents a reader's theatre presentation, and Blanche DuBois will be played by... me.
I've been spending a lot of time in Blanche's skin, and her desire for "magic" and "soft colors." She walks a delicate line between reality and the fantasy world of what SHOULD happen - her 'descent into madness' is her refusal to accept harsh reality.
Remember in the original book of the Wizard of Oz, to enter the Emerald City you had to put on green-tinted glasses. (They bring this back in Wicked, Elphie and Glinda wear green glasses with the other Ozians in "One Short Day.") I imagine Blanche has her own glasses on, with all the soft colors of the rainbow, and by the end she's reduced to a quivering mess when those virtual glasses are torn off.
There are so many characters that do their best to escape reality, or try to twist reality to fit their needs. I listened to Everything's Coming Up Roses from Gypsy today, and thought of Mama Rose, her first step into a similar form of madness, going to make one of her daughters a 'star' no matter the cost. At least she has a little redemption at the end, unlike Blanche.
I hope to see you at Streetcar Named Desire Sep. 10 & 12. Friday night at Gonzaga's Foley Library, Sunday afternoon at the Blue Door Theatre on Garland.
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