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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 1982)
theater review ORT’s ‘Streetcar’ worth catching By Jonathan Siegle Of th# Emerald Oregon Repertory Theatre's production of Tennessee Wil liams’ emotional "Streetcar Named Desire," directed by David Lunney, is what regional theater should be It is tight, competent, and thoroughly professional Lunney's staging is clean and direct He places his actors in a simple, effective, representative set, tells them who they are, and lets them carry the show And they do The acting is outstand ing "Streetcar" takes place in the hot, muggy New Orleans sum mer It is the story of two sisters, Blanche and Stella, and Stella's husband Stanley Kowalski The women are the end of a line of Southern aristocracy The fami ly plantation has been lost, and Blanche moves into Stella's two-room apartment Blanche lives in a fantasy world of manners, of ladies and gentlemen, wealthy beautiful people, lost loves, and unhappy memories. Stella lives a happy life on the rough edge of society with Stanley, who readily admits he's a dumb polack Every actor keeps a trunk full of parts to dream of doing “Streetcar" is an ensemble of such parts Each of the leads uses well his or her opportunity to play this goody from the trunk They are both strong and deep. Elizabeth Remini is Blanche She is girlishly flirtatious with poor Mitch, the gentlemanly mama's boy who comes courtin' her. She is cooly, ruthlessly sexual when teasing the poor paper boy with her charms Her accent, posture, and rapid change of moods bring Blanche vividly to life She's a queen She's a tramp She’s a sorrowful neurotic living out an existence she never really had in the first place Martha Wehmeier as sister Stella is warm and loving and understanding She loves Stan ley and her sister She is happy living in a dump with working class people, unashamed of them or her aristocratic heri tage She is having a baby, and looks every bit the joyful expec tant mother Their scenes together may remind one of the paddle balls we used to play with There is Stella, solid, firm, friendly, and there is Blanche, bouncing off her with a great deal of force and little harm done Stella doesn't listen when Blanche gets morbid A perfect example occurs when Blanche tells Stella she is married to a madman. “I'm not in anything I want to get out of," Stella tells her. Blanche per sists Stella repeats herself, with a bit more conviction, but with out losing control Blanche can’t win If there is a weakness among the leads, it is perhaps Ken Hof as Stanley Oh, he's a polack all right He's rough and crude, and he cries with conviction after he drunkenly slaps Stella But Hof never gives us a chance to see any development in Stanley He doesn't know Blanche is coming, yet he starts off hating her Stella, loving and gentle, deeply cares for him, but he shows little of why she should We have only her word for it that he's all she says he is What Hof blessedly isn't is Marlon Brando It is unfortunate when a part in a play is memor ably played by a famous actor Director Lunney does not allow Hof to play Brando Together they've come up with a Stanley that fits this production, this cast, this actor The supporting cast is adequate, except for Ernesto Ravetto as Mitch, who quite nearly steals whatever scene he's in As Mitch. Ravetto is humble, honest, and very square He plays his scenes with quiet restraint, never allowing himself to stumble into carica ture He is temperate He sincerely loves Blanche, and we believe it ‘'Streetcar” is powerful drama, yet there are some very funny moments Ravetto may have the best line of the show he tells an empty set after Stan ley slaps Stella and everyone rushes out that "Poker should not be played in a house with women.” The set is spare A few poles to indicate walls, the Kowalski family furniture, and the correct props to go with the characters The numerous sound cues may be somewhat intrusive in the intimate theater in the old Eugene Hotel, but the lighting is understated and useful In the midst of ORT's survival fundraising, producing director Lunney has put together a mas terful production He's chosen one of the finest modern Amer ican dramas, given it a powerful cast, and staged it simply in the closeness his theater provides It's a winning assembly. Go see it Take your friends “Streetcar” runs through Oct.31 at the Oregon Repertory Theater, 222 Broadway St WEATHER RUNNING APPAREL • Sweatsuits • Thermal underwear - tops & bottoms • Lifa Super thermal - tops & bottoms • NIKE hats * Oftw (Tn th® Atrium) JM-S1S5 Moo-Sat * 30-6 pm Friday tlM 7 pm the only only store COPY TIME Self serve copies 3° MONDAY - SATURDAY 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. Inside Sugar Pine Ridge Sports Phone 343-7131 Correction A Wednesday article in the Emerald incorrectly stated that the Wah Chang facility is a nuclear plant in Washing ton Teledyne Wah Chang is a raw metals company in Millersburg. near Albany The same article also stat ed that Mark Reis would be speaking about the inef ficiency of energy conserva tion methods Reis is speak ing on the efficiency of con servation methods w Pilot pens! You have to hold onto them hands" Rodney Dangertield i I make a deposit... this guy’s making — a withdrawal-including my Pitot pen.'' It's almost criminal how people go tor my Pilot Fineliner Why? Its fine point writes through carbons And Pilot chorges only 79c for it People get their hands on it and forget it's my pen I got no pen. And no respect! People go nuts over my Pilot Razor Point too It writes with an extra tine >me Its metal collar Keep the point from ^ should buy their own pen-and show some respect for my property fine point marker pens People take to a Pilot like irs their own EMU cultural forum & the holt center for the performing arts presents , oCtiO,8Pm a"«.9- 10' °-silva concert hall tickets available at • emu main desk • hult center box office • everybody's records • meier & frank HULT CENTER FOR THE. PERFORMING ARTS EUGENE,OREGON Pan* 7
