A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire
By Tennessee Williams
Directed by Paul Castaneda
Starring Daniel Cooksey, Sara Jane Fridlich, Leesa Halstead, Roger Greco
G.O.A.T. at The Cameo, Orlando FL</strong>
Women always seem to fall for the most abusive men they can find, and Stella DuBois (Fridlich) picked a doozy with brutish Stanley Kowalski (Cooksey). The sex is great and the bruises heal soon enough, but when displaced sister Blanche Dubois (Halstead) drops in for a permanent vacation, their fun and games are interrupted by Blanche’s penchant for hogging the bathroom and lacking the manners of her dueling slave master ancestors. The Old South did have its standards, low as they might seem today. Blanche is desperate for an income and nearly latches on to Stan’s buddy Mitch (Greco), but she holds out just a bit too long. Stanley’s low grade gumshoe work reveals she was once declared “Off Limits” by the Army, and her only escape is the Looney Bin. Good for her, this leaves Stan time to resume his main hobby – slapping Stella around as she tried to raise his son.
Daniel Cooksey was an odd choice for Stanley; he’s always been the cuddly nice guy in a romance. Still, he does a good job with the role, even if he seems nasty to Blanche from day one and never changes his tune. His relation with Stella and her “rationalize the bruises because that what love is” feels one dimensional, but then he IS pretty much focused on one thing – the animal lust we seek in the Deep South. The sex scenes are more explicit than one would see at, say, Theater Downtown, and one hopes the director issued him a condom. I liked Halstead as Blanche, when she put on her silver sparkly dress to capture Mitch; you knew the alcohol had eaten away her sex drive to the point where all she could hope for was a mercy rape from Stanley.
White Greater Orlando Actors Theatre has been around for a year or so, this was the debut of Orlando’s newest funky theater space, The Cameo. Located in the heart of V-town, this art deco movie house offers an exposed brick and wiring black box experience. The space is low and long and seats are scatters around, but the blocking keeps most of the action clear and entertaining. This is a particularly angry Street Car, and an impressive beginning for a low budget start up theater.
For more information, please visit http://www.goatgroup.com