A Streetcar Named Desire - Almeida / Phoenix / Noel Coward

Must say I did really enjoy this. The sound design in that room was excellent and thought Patsy Ferran's Blanche was quite the revelation. She keeps her fragile state very well and doesn't overplay anything. I wasn't sure what Paul would be like or if the press had hyped him up but wow, he's terrific! Genuinely jumped at a few of his shouts and with the drums playing overhead, the dramatic tension really sears through you. I sat on the opposite side of the stage so think I missed a bit of action in the corner above me but I also had Paul taking his shirt off twice, showing off his abs twice in front of me so can't really complain. After 2 rather meh Glass Menagerie's last year, wouldn't mind seeing Rebecca Frecknall tackle another Tennessee Williams classic in the future.

I finally saw this yesterday afternoon, it is very good- the first act is long but I didn't notice, as I was so taken with what was going on. I did not know the play at all nor read anything beforehand so nothing to compare with but I thought both Patsy Ferran and Paul Mescal were great. The latter was truly scary at times and brought back awful memories, he really played a violent/angry man very well but he was excellent also when not shouting and screaming. I really felt that at any point he could flip and make a scene, even when he was calm- and I was always on edge because of it. I have only ever seen him in Aftersun so far, and he was great in that also. The relationship with Stella was believable to me, how she doesn't want to leave him despite everything. Also how him and Blanche relate and behave when together, how he dislikes her and despises her as a potential threat to his wife's devotion and the sexism and ageism of a man who only values women when they are young and attractive.
Patsy Ferran was excellent and the scene in the second act when she's alone with him is so intense. I understood what was going on immediately even if it was not made obvious. I have never seen her in anything else before, sadly missed out on Summer and Smoke. Will definitely follow her career more closely now.
I wish I had a better seat as where I was, quite a few times I was looking at someone's back.
Glad I've started the new year with this one.

plot twist: you can move your opinion to a 4

Given the success of the show and Paul Mescal garnerning awards buzz here and his film Aftersun, could a West End transfer be possible this year? I think @sohoplace is a good venue since it’s built in-the-round and a strong follow up after Medea concludes in mid-April.

Very excited to see this later this week!

There are different editions! The 1984 Methuen edition (sorry I don't know how to attach a photo) has: 'By coming suddenly into a room that I thought was empty - which wasn't empty, but had two people in it....

Then the stage directions: 'A locomotive is heard approaching outside etc.;

Followed by:

'Afterwards we pretended that nothing....'

I've just returned a ticket for this Saturday (no trains running!), B-25 matinee, if that helps. 

Enjoyed this considerably more the second time round! Familiarity with the text, which I didn’t have the first time round, certainly helped. But having three leads equally matched and in perfect harmony with each other definitely made this click for me.

(Again, not having a pop at the poor understudy who was on when I saw it first! If I’d had to go on and do that with a couple of hours notice I’d have just crawled into a corner 😂)

Revising my rating to four stars!

Terrific production. Kudos to all the cast but my, Patsy Ferran! As Steve said earlier, this production has been stripped back to see Blanche's perspective. An intelligent cultured woman undone by the expectations of her society through grief, heartbreak, poverty and eventually scandal, Ferran makes her nevertheless a warrior clinging on for survival, trying anything but still believing in that old social code and art and beauty. Stella has no easy life, but its easier than Blanche's and she refuses to condemn her sister.

I was less keen on the slo-mo scenes (I think these only work on film), and didn't like the harsh drumbeating which wasn't necessary.

But overall this was exceptional

Oh, boy. After managing to open Cabaret with two of the three main parts miscast, Rebecca Frecknall tops herself with a full house.

Admittedly it's hard to cast Stanley given the feminisation of leading men in the past 75 years but still.

It feels like a school play where you put the one pupil who can act in the main role regardless of suitability.

With the lack of chemistry in the cast and the bare staging it could hardly be less atmospheric. Is Frecknall aware this is a play performed properly by Anderson and Kirby in recent memory?

If this mess goes to the West End it is the sort of production which puts casual theatre goers off for years. At least at the Almeida with Mescal's box office appeal it is only playing to theatre devotees and his fans.

Sooner than we might think, if what I've heard is accurate.