A Streetcar Named Desire was broadcast from the Young Vic as part of NT Live, the run ends this Friday. Personally, I am not a fan of Tennessee Williams but I wanted to see if this production could bring me some sympathy with his works. I was also interested in how such a long play would feel in a cinema setting.
First to the setting; Weston-super-Mare Odeon. I have mentioned before the poor sound-proofing, not sure what was on at the other screens but it was pretty loud! The lack of a bar also takes away from the "theatre feel" but that's just a niggle more than made up for by the presence of pick-and-mix. The seats are comfortable, you get a "programme" and the overall evening is pleasant and cost effective compared to a London trip.
Next to the broadcast; NT Live. Well, for me, the sound quality in this one was very poor, way too loud, especially for such a shouty play with such loud inter-scenes. The filming was actually pretty good considering that the set was rotating pretty well all of the time, an effect that was largely lost by not being at the theatre and which could be intrusive in long shots where the movement of the actors against the audience behind was quite distracting. Such staging effects were not, of course, intended for the filmed environment. The pre-show and interval filmed bits were interesting and well worth sitting through.
Finally to the production itself. Hmm. I did not enjoy this I'm afraid and I know lots of people did. I know that Tennessee wrote Blanche as a loud person but if you shout the whole way through it is very tiring for the audience - this was exacerbated by the broadcast environment, whilst the audience-actor distances will have changed throughout the show giving different levels and nuances, to us (the film audience) it was always just loud. I am a fan of partial sets and fake walls, the audience's brains will fill in the missing bits and it keeps sight lines clear but walls still "exist" even if not represented so you have to watch out for things like knocking a mirror off a table and having it land (through a wall) in the bathroom and you really shouldn't have people wrapping streamers round a doorframe (as to do so they would have to punch a hole through the wall) or even holding on to a doorframe with their fingers through the wall. Ok, this sounds like niggling and it would be less apparent to a theatre audience (though adjudicators will pull up amateurs on this on a regular basis!) but when you are zoomed in and up close these things really grate ... a little like the revolve appeared to do in the second half, or was that squeaking coming from the other cinema screen?? More generally, the production failed to give me that steamy, sweaty, Southern feeling and was played too much on a level - good performances all round were basically swallowed up by the production rather than being showcased. Basically, had I been fully engaged by the play and performances then I would not have noticed these - I was not - somehow, the production (and the filming) really seemed to get between me and the characters; in the end I couldn't have cared less about any of them.
In all, for me this was not a good night, your milage (when this is shown again at cinemas) may vary, especially if you're a Tennessee fan ...
