By Shane Standifur
Motlow Buzz Reporter
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Middle Tennessee State University theatre students performed the well- known drama “A Streetcar Named Desired” to a sold out crowd at Tucker Theatre on April 6.
The Tennessee Williams play, which is set in 1940s New Orleans, is known for the chaos Blanche Dubois creates when she moves into her sister’s,Stella Kowalski apartment. Blanche has very high standards and morals compared to her sister, and the people in New Orleans. She has a rough time adjusting to their way of life.
Blanche also has numerous arguments with her brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski. Blanche’s indiscreet past comes to light in an argument with Stanley, which makes everyone think less of her. Stanley realizes that Blanche is making up stories and events that happened in her life that didn’t happen, even though Blanche thinks they did. The tension builds throughout the play until Blanche is taken away by doctors to a mental institution.
“When we were deciding what kind of play to do this semester, this particular drama was an easy one to choose,” said MTSU Artistic Director Marsha Barksy. “ It is a play that has been done for years, and our actors were very eager to do this play.”
Blanche Dubois was played by Hannah Ewing. She used an authentic Mississippian accent to pull the audience in. Her well-spoken lines and movement kept theatre-goers guessing what was going to happen next.
Connor McCabe drew applause for playing the hot-tempered Stanley. The arguments between Stanley and Blanche felt real.He nailed the role of a man with a vicious temper.
Having a modern theatre like Tucker Theatre gives us advantages that some other theatres do not have,” said Stage Manager Megan Inmon. “ We were able to have a streetcar sound effect go over the speakers. So it sounded like a real streetcar being stopped outside of the apartment just as it would in real life.”
The talent of the artistic staff brought the well-known drama to life. The stage featured the Kowalskis’ apartment, as well as a second-floor apartment for their friends, Steve Hubbell and Eunice Hubbell. The artistic staff created real stairs that connected the two apartments, acting as a door for actors and actresses to enter and exit the stage.
“We also had an opening and closing door sound effect so actors would not have to rely on a real door”said Inmon. Sometimes they can get tricky, and it allowed our actors and audience to use their imagination.”
Another way the talent of the artistic staff shined was the way the background was created. A green screen was projected in the very back of the stage that would change colors based on what time it was during the day. Powerlines were projected on the screen that connected to prop streetlights created by the artistic staff, this giving the effect that a real streetlight was made.
Of course, every successful drama has a great production staff, and “A Streetcar Named Desire” had one. The scene changes were smooth and fast. The sound engineers mastered a state-of-the-art speaker system, giving the audience a well-defined, crisp sound of the actor’s voices. The lighting crew never missed a beat, dimming the lights when they were supposed to, and spotlighting the actors when needed. Needless to say, “A Streetcar Named Desire” was what every audience member and theatre lover could ever hope for, a perfect play that everyone from the actors to the sound crew to the directors handled professionally.
The next scheduled play at MTSU is “How I Learned To Drive,” which will take place at Studio Theatre from Oct. 4-13. Anyone interested in pursuing theatre at MTSU can find more information at http://www.mtsu.edu/programs/theatre/.
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