A Street Car Named Desire heads to Tenth Street Theatre

Uprooted Theatre Company takes on Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire next Monday, Jan. 25, at the Tenth Street Theatre. The staged reading will be the upstart’s third production since its inception last May. And the company execs couldn’t be more excited.

“Come expecting to see a classic, American play filtered through the eyes of the African American experience,” says actor Travis Knight, who portrays protagonist Stanley Kowalski in the production. Knight also serves as the marketing and development coordinator for the company. His colleagues include: Marti Gobel, managing director; Dennis Johnson, the artistic director; and Tiffany Cox, director of finances.

Williams’ play first made it to Broadway in 1947, the same year it won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. In 1951, a film adaptation starring Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh nabbed an Oscar, among other honors. The popular production even spawned a few made-for-TV films in the ’80s and ’90s.

One reason for its continual popularity is the provocative storyline. Streetcar takes place in New Orleans and centers around the strained relationships among the main characters, Blanche DuBois, her sister Stella Kowalski and husband Stanley. Threads of reckless violence, rape and mental illness are vividly sewn throughout.

Knight says the play fell right in line with one of his company’s main goals —  to tell new stories or to tell classic ones through a different lens, one shaped by the African American experience.

He points to other troupes that have done so with such classics as The Great Gatsby and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. “The story doesn’t change,” he says. “And, as for this one, we’ve had interest in it for a long time. It’s iconic.”

But the idea isn’t color-blinding casting, Knight says, as much as non-traditional casting. In fact, he says the company is hopeful that the portrayals in the Streetcar reading will stir up conversation. “We hope that it generates a bit of discussion — we aim for that,” he says of the show, which Angela Iannone, a Milwaukee theater legend, will direct.

“She fused together two editions (of the play) … the difference is the stage direction,” Knight says. “(Tennessee Williams was) a great writer to describe the surroundings. It’s kind of poetic … and about the vivid world that they live in.”

Yet, through the years, A Streetcar has become known for its actor portrayals as much as about its hauntingly rich storyline. “When you have Marlon Brando playing Stanley … for us … you realize that there are going to be those iconic moments. That’s what people look for,” Knight concedes, knowing that he will have big shoes to fill come Monday night. “Some of that stuff was used then because it worked; it helped to tell Tennessee’s story. And there will be expectations now.”

Knight and Marti Gobel will portray Stanley and Blanche Kowalski, and Joetta Wright will take on Stella DuBois’ character. T. Stacy Hicks will narrate.

It’s not likely that Knight or any of his fellow acting partners will disappoint. Uprooted’s first production, Beauty’s Daughter, was eagerly received, as was the company’s fundraiser that Knight says was essentially an exciting night of performances by a cross-section of Milwaukee actors. The company’s next production will be The Colored Museum in March. And, there’s collaboration in the works, too, between Uprooted and Renaissance Theaterworks scheduled for January 2011.

“We’re really in a good season right now,” Knight says, obviously pumped up for Monday’s production. “We’re used to going into a theater company as actors at established places where they’re not going through all of the start-up stuff. Now, it’s an interesting transition. But that’s one of the things that we’re never really nervous about. We’re bringing in good actors and getting the word out. The bar is set high, and it is a little scary. But the excitement trumps all fears.”

A staged reading of A Streetcar Named Desire will be Monday, Jan. 25, at 7:30 p.m., at In Tandem’s  Tenth Street Theatre, 628 N. Tenth St. Tickets are $20. Students/seniors pay $10. For more information call 414-271-1371 or visit the In Tandem website.