A Streetcar Named Desire

Streetcar is my favourite play. The Donmar is my favourite producing theatre. I about had kittens when they announced this production and have been eagerly anticipating my visit ever since I was on the phone at one second past 9am on the morning that tickets went on sale.

Maybe it was inevitable, therefore, that I was a little disappointed. I can't even really quantify why. I think the trouble is that because I know the piece so very well, I have really clear ideas of how the characters should be and for the most part, these portrayals just didn't match up with how I see them. I do think Rachel Weisz is too young to be Blanche and I definitely think that Ruth Wilson was too young for Stella. It didn't bother me too much when they weren't on stage together but I really struggled to care about the Blanche/Stella relationship.

Elliot Cowan, in contrast, was exactly how I see Stanley. Gruff, brooding, imposing, terrifying but attractive and appealing at the same time. Special kudos also for the guy playing Mitch (whose name I've forgotten) who I thought was terrific.

My biggest bugbear, though, was the costumes. During the course of the play, I picked out pieces I recognised from H&M, Office and Primark... whilst partly just indicative of the amount of time I spend window shopping, the sheer laziness of it really bothered me. The set was beautiful and so in keeping with the period so to see so much costumes wise that looked like it had been grabbed from a dash down Oxford Street really irritated me.

I'm glad I saw it... but can't help feeling a bit let down.

Piaf

Having had my plans changed at the last minute on Wednesday night, I rushed down to the Vaudeville to see if I could get my hands on a ticket for Piaf. I missed it at the Donmar and hadn't had chance to catch it in the West End and thought I was just going to have to resign myself to missing it, so was very happy indeed when the lovely man at the box office gave me a top price seat (central stalls) for £20. Lovely.

I have mixed feelings on it... the opening staging is fabulous - I wish it had lasted longer! Elena Roger is really as amazing as everyone says but I still felt a little disappointed overall and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's just because the Donmar have set the bar so high for themselves that my expectations are always much higher than pretty much anywhere else. I think it was the piece though... I know it seems a strange complaint to moan about the story constantly moving but it all just seemed a bit too quick. The pace was very fast throughout, without any real let up and I just wish it had paused, or slowed down a little bit even a couple of times to have some contrast.

We had a couple of understudies - Mensah Bediako for the Doctor etc and Nari Blair-Mangat for Louis. The latter was a bit of a weak link for me, which was a shame.

I did enjoy it, am very glad to have seen it and think the world has gone utterly crazy if she doesn't win an Olivier but yet somehow still feel just a little bit let down.