Sugar glass shards flying through the air; chairs punted across the stage, faux Mississippi accents spat across the auditorium. All three make for a wickedly entertaining Wednesday night at Bedlam.
If you haven’t read or watched the play before, or caught the extremely lovable film, featuring Vivien Leigh, and Marlon Brando, then I certainly hope you made it to Bedlam, to catch the EUTC rendition of the 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning Streetcar Named Desire.
Set in and around a small apartment in New Orleans, the story opens by introducing us to its tragic protagonist: Blanche DuBois. Inga Rudzitis, who played Blanche’s role, seemed a little unsure of the Mississippi accent at the outset, but as a friend pointed out: “You really can’t do a Mississippi accent well…unless you’ve lived in Mississippi”.
The action moves pretty fast in the play, especially once we are introduced the enigmatic Stanley Kowalski, Blanche’s seemingly polar opposite, with his working-class roots and very raw appeal. The dynamic between the frank reality which he represents, and Blanche’s world of lies and deceit, dominates the rest of the play. Solomon Mousley’s portrayal of Stanley was quite impressive.
Watching the play, I got the sense that part of the tension between Stanley and Blanche was meant to divide your opinion between the two. You’re consciously made to re-evaluate the characters, both loving and disliking them alternately, and changing your mind with every turn of the action. 
Stanley is at first likeable with his perception of reality and truth, driven by his pride in being a working-class American, which contrasts strongly with Blanche’s upper-class pretensions. But the play soon has you re-assessing Stanley’s affability, when he physically and emotionally rapes Blanche of her last shreds of sanity while Stella is giving birth to their child. (Tastefully dealt with, EUTC!)
The play leaves you with a lasting sense of pathos, well captured on stage, notwithstanding a few minor technical difficulties such as a ghost-light which missed its cue, lighting up a little late. It highlights vanity, idealism, and white lies as polar opposites of truth and reality. Blanche is all appearance and façade and Stanley is all about the brutality of  truth; and although it should be easy to choose which side to back, the play proves it is not. A captivating production, and a sterling effort from the cast and crew.