A Streetcar Named Desire, the most modern version

Mexico Cityprocess).- For directors and actors A Streetcar Named Desirea work that applies not only to Tennessee Williams’ original work—nearly 80 years after it was written—but to all elements and conditions surrounding mental health and the criticisms that have arisen from violence (which was romanticized at the time), classism, racism, and even homophobia.

Recently premiered at the Julio Castillo Theater at the Bosque Cultural Center, with a short season until September 1, the title role is Marina de Tavira, who is famous for her role in Rome (2019), returns five years later with a work that, in his words, “is universal and very human”, thus transcending time; and Rodrigo Virago plays Stanley Kowalski, who, faced with the complex reality of today, “has many elements that reflect a part of society that no one should have to go through”.

For production director Diego del Río, it’s a theatrical classic but with a very modern sensibility.

Produced by 25Produccion and INBAL (National Institute of Fine Arts and Letters) at the encouragement of Efiartes, it has a running time of 170 minutes and, in addition to De Tavira and Virago, the cast includes Astrid Romo, Ana Clara, Alejandro Morales, Mónica Jiménez, Andrés Penela, Federico Di Lorenzo, Diego Medel, Diego Santana and Patricia Vaca.

It reads in the working file:

“exist A Streetcar Named Desire By Tennessee Williams Blanche DuBois arrives in New Orleans to live with her sister Stella and brother-in-law Stanley. Coping with past trauma and mental health issues, Blanche turns to her sister, her only living family member, for support.

“The work explores the interdependence and masculinity between Stella and Stanley, a marriage that oscillates between love and violence, with tensions rising with the emergence of Blanche, revealing Stanley’s aggression in the face of Blanche’s vulnerability.”

The film won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948 and is best known for its eponymous film version (1951), for which Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando won the 1952 Academy Awards for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor, respectively.

However, the film version does not emphasize some elements of Williams’ original work (which transcends the spirit): violence (for some romanticization in the film), classism, racism, and homophobia.

Regarding the version of the title (A Streetcar Named DesireEnglish) said Williams got it from hearing the sound of two streetcars near where he lived in New Orleans, one on the “Deseo” route – running along Royal Street – and the other on the “Graveyard” route – along the canal – which he saw as a metaphor for life, introducing the streetcar as Blanche’s mode of transportation to visit her sister.

Experts call Blanche Another Self The writer’s femininity and Stanley’s complicated love story with a Mexican man.

In addition to the theory, Del Rio used Williams’ original text as the basis for the current setting, explaining:

“I questioned from the beginning how to present a part of society that was an open wound and had been prevalent for so long, with violence, classism, all of these elements that were already present in Williams’ work.”

today…

For her part, de Tavira, dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt, said she had been waiting for the time to return to the theater, waiting for a project that she considered ideal, and that after two years of talking with Diego del Rio about the possibility of this work, when the wait came to fruition, it was put on hold because of the relevance of explaining Blanche. process:

“There couldn’t be a better time for this play, it’s worth taking the time and being privileged to be here, every actor brings something unique to this show and I feel really at peace with all the work that’s going on.

“When Williams wrote the book, he didn’t have a specific diagnosis of what was happening to Blanche, he developed it, supposedly from the essence of himself, and from there it became a turbulence, something unsettling, confusing, exciting, everything that is suppressed in someone like Blanche, a personal whirlwind. And I remember we were talking about the character of Stanley and how important that character is, and there couldn’t be a better character to play than Rodrigo Villago. So this was the perfect moment for all the elements to come together, the director, the actors, the team, and I think it was perfect for this production.”

-Did you refer to this film or other montages?

-I could have read the book and seen the movie, in fact I have seen it played twice, but it is “here and now”. I consider it iconic, not even complex, I have to be fully engaged, Diego Del Rio’s direction is very important.

-What’s your seal?

-Blanche takes everything I have to offer, my fears, my insecurities, my passions. We take similarities and differences into account in our work, and when I put my skin on it, it’s everything I am, but also everything I’m not. ”

-About its contemporaneity?

-The issue of violence is of course important, I read that the number of missing women in Veracruz state reached its highest point, and I thought that was horrible. How can we be this country, this world? They continue to incarcerate people for gender violence, and unfortunately, many of those things are here, talking about Stanley and immigration issues, instability, all of that, in every character and individual experience.

Rodrigo said that the experience of working with De Tavira was very pleasant because they were a good team on stage. He talked about his role:

“Stanley is a complex person. This is a violent person who destroys what he doesn’t understand, a person who is not very rational, impulsive, but everything is out of a need to be loved, out of a need to ‘don’t leave’, and in my opinion he reacts like this because his only oxygen tank in life is Stella, and she feels like her sister Blanche is coming to take it away, and she feels like she is at war.

“He’s a violent character, but at the same time, in Williams’ genius, he has a clarity of line that is important to understanding what’s going on, and getting into Stanley’s head is impressive.”

A Streetcar Named Desire The play will be performed at the Julio Castillo Theater at the Bosque Cultural Center from Thursday to Sunday at 7 p.m. until September 1. The cost is 150 pesos and can be purchased at the theater box office or through www.teatro.inba.gob.mx.