The main reason to see any production of A Streetcar Named Desire is usually to see what the actress playing Blanche DuBois, one of literature's most tragic heroines, does with the role. DuBois is in capable hands here with Gillian Anderson channeling her this time around. Anderson is attractive, well-coiffed, and a bundle of nerves as Blanche, a disgraced schoolteacher turned alcoholic who goes to live with her sister, Stella, and husband, Stanley, in New Orleans after her family home slips through her fingers.
Blanche and Stanley almost immediately get off on the wrong foot and he keeps tearing down every attempt she makes to get herself back on track. Ben Foster's Stanley won't call to mind Marlon Brando's interpretation, which turns out to be a good thing. Foster's is a far more sensitive performance, showing Stanley's more childlike side as well as the tough brute.
While some of the production aspects make the pacing feel a little off, it's Anderson's performance as Blanche that continues to draw on in. It truly is a marvel.
Blanche and Stanley almost immediately get off on the wrong foot and he keeps tearing down every attempt she makes to get herself back on track. Ben Foster's Stanley won't call to mind Marlon Brando's interpretation, which turns out to be a good thing. Foster's is a far more sensitive performance, showing Stanley's more childlike side as well as the tough brute.
While some of the production aspects make the pacing feel a little off, it's Anderson's performance as Blanche that continues to draw on in. It truly is a marvel.