A Streetcar Named Desire
at Dillard Center For The Arts

Reviewed on November 22, 2013

Marissa Krantz
Stoneman Douglas High School
Submitted for publication to

On the surface, it seemed like the perfect home. Two sisters finally reunited, a husband and wife madly in love, a baby on the way. But closed doors and late nights hide a more sinister and tragic story. A story that will change the course of this home forever; a story that Dillard High School explores in their production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

Written by American playwright Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire won the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and opened on Broadway on December 3rd, 1947. Though it only ran on Broadway for two years, A Streetcar Named Desire became recognized as an American classic. The play focuses on fading beauty Blanche Du Bois as she comes to live with her sister, Stella, in New Orleans. As tensions begin to rise between Blanche and Stanley, Stella's dominating husband, everyone's seemingly normal lives begin to unravel as Stanley becomes even more aggressive and the real reasons why Blanche came to New Orleans become exposed.

Dillard High School's cast commendably portrayed the characters' internal struggles throughout the production. As the play went on, many members of the cast became more dynamic while staying consistently in character. The constant upbeat ensemble successfully juxtaposed the normalcy of the town and the conflicts of the main characters.

Zoe Nouel portrayed the aging beauty Blanche comfortably onstage. She worked well with Pryscila Salinas, who portrayed Blanche's sister Stella, to create a believable relationship between the two characters. One of the most memorable characters was Stanley Kowalski, portrayed by Darius Roberts. Roberts displayed the nature of his character through his eating habits, voice inflections, and posture. Though moments of the play were particularly challenging, the main cast handled themselves with poise.

The dynamics of the main cast were strengthened by the compelling performances of Yimala Telemaque and Christopher Currington, who played the upstairs couple, Eunice and Steve, respectively. Telemaque and Currington used their natural chemistry and strong onstage presence to create a truly poignant and realistic portrayal of a relationship. Although some members of the cast had difficulty connecting to their characters, Douglas Goodridge rose to the challenge with his believable portrayal of Blanche's love interest, Harold Mitchell.

The technical aspects of A Streetcar Named Desire were simplistic but effective. While some of the props and costumes were not time period appropriate, the crew used lighting to depict mood as well as the time of day. While all the interactions between ensemble members between scenes were interesting, the transitions were so long that they broke up the natural flow of the play.

Overall, Dillard High School's production of A Streetcar Named Desire depicted the struggles of a middle-class American family admirably.

Taylor Barth
JP Taravella HS
Submitted for publication to

A delusional "young" woman tries to overcome a mental illness with many hardships along the way in Dillard Center for the Arts's engaging production of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire.'

Written in 1947 by American playwright Tennessee Williams, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire' was quite the hit, making it's debut on Broadway in 1947 and receiving the Pulitzer Prize the year after. The play takes place in the 40‘s, where Blanche Dubois, a woman who thinly masks her mental illness by exhibiting poise and Southern charm, makes a visit to her sister, Stella Kowalski, in her New Orleans apartment after having an affair with one of her students. Everything soon starts to spin out of control as we discover the secrets of Stella's husband Stanley, who has an uncontrollable temper and lashes out at even the most minor mishaps. Throughout the show, Blanche continues to try to find herself and a suitor whilst living under the same roof as an abusive and insane man.

Darius Roberts played Stanley, Stella's husband, with an outrageous temper, exhibiting commendable characterization and believability as he screamed in pure rage.  Alongside Roberts was Zoe Nouel as Stella's sister Blanche, who showed her character's attempt to mask her alcoholism and delusions of grandeur while in desperate need of assurance that she is still attractive. Nouel showed her incredible memorization skills and dedication to her role as she recited lines admirably throughout the entire show with great characterization.

Stella, Stanley's wife, was portrayed by Pryscilla Salinas. Salinas had good character development, executing her concern for her sister's mental condition very well and believably. Depicting Harold Mitchell, the young man who bonded and cared for Blanche, was Douglas Goodridge. Goodridge built stronger connections with the cast members as the show went on and showcased his more genuine side. Both Christopher Currington and Yimala Telemaque, playing the married couple upstairs, added to the drama-filled story with a bit of comedic relief.

Technically, the show was very pleasing to the eye with a beautiful 1940's styled New Orleans house and brilliant lighting. The props also added depth to the show and made everything more realistic.

The ensemble added to the story during the lengthy transitions between scenes by walking and gossiping with others on the streets of New Orleans. Overall, the cast did a great job bringing the show to life.

With an intriguing, compelling, and heart-wrenching production of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire,' Dillard Center for the Arts truly pulled off this highly difficult show commendably.

Maria Elisa Vallejo
Cypress Bay High School
Submitted for publication to

A Streetcar Named Desire is a play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams in 1947 for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The story follows a Southern belle, Blanche, with more problems than originally evident. With a strong interest in finding a husband, Blanche visits her sister, Stella, and her husband, Stanley. Blanche is not completely welcome by Stanley and runs into various problems during her stay. A Streetcar Named Desire made its Broadway debut December 3, 1947 and ran until December 17, 1949 in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.

Dillard Center for the Arts took on the task of performing this mature straight play. Aside from a few characters that remained on stage for most of the performance, the ensemble made occasional appearances in what seemed to serve as transition periods. Having the students walk around as civilians to give the feel of a city was a practical idea and although the students did a nice job portraying their roles, the transitions seemed drawn out and repetitive.

Stanley, played by Darius Roberts, did a commendable job portraying such a dynamic character. Roberts' acting seemed natural and was one of the most consistent, especially during angry scenes. During emotional scenes, various characters reacted in ways that seemed unrealistic due to the situation and their general characters. Eunice (Yimala Telemaque) and Steve (Christopher Currington) were the power couple of this performance. Both actors had unbelievable emotional commitment as well as stage presence, causing all eyes to shift to them, even when the spotlight wasn't. Currington served as the character that provided the slightest bit of comic relief and succeeded at stirring up a few laughs. Stella, played by Pryscila Salinas, did a nice job portraying the maturity of her character and making it consistent. Blanche, Zoe Nouel, had some shining moments on stage along with pleasant stage presence.

The set was aesthetically beautiful and the lighting used was impressive. The set was ideal for the story but was problematic when the actors didn't have a good idea of where walls were supposed to be. The layout of the set caused the actors to turn their backs to the audience multiple times as well as blocked areas of the audience from seeing parts of scenes occurring on the opposite side. Costumes were mostly spot on, aside from a few seeming inappropriate for the time period.

Overall, Dillard Center for the Arts pulled off a pleasing performance of this mature piece.

Alexandrea Hess
Cypress Bay High School
Submitted for publication to

A fading Southern belle, a detached, but loving, wife, and an abusive husband all come together to create the famous play "A Streetcar Named Desire" written by Tennessee Williams. This play received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1947 and continued on Broadway. The story of a fallen social light who moves in with her sister and her brute husband in New Orleans was retold this Friday night at Dillard Center for the Arts.

In the complex role of Blanche, played by Zoe Nouel, the southern charm to the stage with a consistent accent and flighty attitude was created. Stanley the primal force in this show was played by Darius Roberts. Roberts supplied the audience with the intensity they were searching for.

The small ensemble, while having nice energy, pulled unnecessary focus from the scenes at hand, but was, at times, amusing. Two characters who really stood out were Eunice and Steve, played by Yimala Telemaque and Christopher Currington, respectively. These two had a chemistry that had not yet been discovered on this stage and demanded attention whenever they graced the stage.

Another bright spot in this production was the grouping of the men while playing poker. Including Stanely and Steve, the quartet included Mitch played by Douglas Goodridge, and Pablo played by Kemani Chin. These four provided a friendship that was not present anywhere else.

A set placed at an intersecting angle proved to be visually pleasing and fit the time period well, but at times was difficult for the actors to use. The simple lighting cues, sound cues, and subtle set changes for this static set were operated by Jasmine Myers with ease. With a small black-box to work with, the space was used efficiently and didn't need the help of microphones.

The heavy choice of material in A Streetcar Named Desire was a bold choice for Dillard Center for the Arts, but they took to the task admirably.

Nick Lopez
Cypress Bay High School
Submitted for publication to

All aboard A Streetcar Named Desire on a journey towards elusive passion, psychological escape, and heartbreaking revelation in Dillard Center for the Arts' latest theatrical production!

This classic Broadway play written by Tennessee Williams opened in 1947 to instant acclaim, winning the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It revolves around the seemingly vibrant and poised Southern belle Blanche DuBois and her arrival to her sister Stella's small New Orleans apartment, where she instantly clashes with Stella's over possessive and dominating husband, Stanley. As the gritty and ardent New Orleans begins to sink its teeth into Blanche's elitist veneer, A Streetcar Named Desire becomes a ruthlessly truthful insight into family relations, predacious love, and the struggle between fantasy and reality.

Dillard's take on A Streetcar Named Desire succeeded mostly thanks to the commitment of its cast – especially that of its leads, who did a commendable job of memorizing two and a half hours of heavily-packed dialogue. Although there was a recurrent lack of energy and difficulty with portraying the play's dark themes, overall the cast succeeded in delivering emotional and diverse performances.

Zoe Nouel nicely captured the cheerful essence the show's protagonist, Blanche, and capably brought out the character's emotional toil in some of the show's heavier scenes. Alongside Nouel was Pryscila Salinas as Stella, who came off convincingly mature and worn in a more demure performance.

The powerhouse of the show was Darius Roberts as Stella's vicious husband, Stanley; Roberts dominated Dillard's black-box theater with his powerful stage presence and energy in highly dynamic and enthralling performance. He boasted great comedic timing and remarkable dramatic acting ability, which was most notably put on display during his impressive execution of scenes which required him to show Stanley's violent nature.

Yimala Telemaque (Eunice) made her relatively smaller role as Stella's generous but troubled neighbor, Eunice, was one of the show's highlight performances. Her comfort and charisma was splendid, and she stole every moment she had on stage with spot-on diction, physicality, and characterization – other actors struggled in achieving a similar command of their character, especially when it came to being consistent with their character's accent, age, and appropriateness to the time period.

Dillard's stunningly detailed and atmospheric set wreaked with irresistible New Orleans soul and antiquity, and although its setup made many scenes prone to being blocked to some audience members, it established an infectious ambiance for the actors to feed off. Added to that was the vivacious and multifaceted lighting design, which was also smoothly executed. Although there were missteps with several props and period inconsistencies in the costumes and hair, the technical aspects of the show were amongst its strongest elements.

Despite some minor bumps in the road, A Streetcar Named Desire was a satisfactory effort by Dillard Center for the Arts to interpret this immensely difficult play. For a couple of hours, Dillard's black-box theater became an escape to 1947 New Orleans that reminded us of the timeless, tragic human desire for "a world as it ought to be."