A Streetcar Named Desire Stagecraft

Learning objectives Consider how stagecraft creates atmosphere and adds meaning to the play.

Stage directions Some playwrights use very few stage directions which can typically be quite dry. However, Williams’ stage directions are detailed and descriptive. Do you remember the term, William’s coined for his inventive and unusual ideas about staging? Plastic theatre.

Imagery Williams uses rich imagery in stage directions. Be aware of this and look for examples that you can comment on in the exam. Such as… In scene one, the music plays with “the infatuated fluency of brown fingers”. This metaphor suggests the passion of the musician and the fluency of the music. The sibilant frictive sound of the repeated “f”, also adds to the sense of harmonising music.

practice Skim through the stage directions. Can you find any more examples of interesting lexical choices or phonetically rich language?

Characterisation A playwright can also describe body language in stage directions to create character. The audience will then see this in the actors’ interpretation of the script. Do you remember the terminology to describe body language? Haptics Proxemics Kinesics

Music The Blue Piano symbolises the vitality (and sometimes the cruelty) of the French quarter of New Orleans. The Varsouvian Polka is redolent of Blanche’s painful memories; her guilt and grief for the loss of her husband. In Scene 6, Blanche explains it was the music they danced to the night she discovered his betrayal. Both are used to mark changes in mood, convey a sense of menace or fear.

The Dramatic pause Sound is also manipulated by playwrights when they stop conversation. Pause can be very powerful, building a sense of anticipation in the audience for what is going to happen next. Language that expresses uncertainty may suggest where pause could be effective. Look for the typography which shows ellipsis and obvious pauses dictated by stage directions. In Scene 10, stage directions tell us that Stanley “stares at her (Blanche) for a count of ten.” This creates a very long uncomfortable dramatic pause.

practice The Varsouvian Polka starts to play “faintly” in Scene Eleven when the doctor and nurse come for Blanche. The music is interrupted as William’s uses pause;“There is a moment of silence - no sound but that of STANLEY steadily shuffling the cards”. As Blanche realises what is happening and panics, the music is “filtered into weird distortion”. What effect does this manipulation of background music have on the audience?

Lighting Stella runs into Stanley’s arms after Blanche has warned her sister to leave him. Stanley has overheard the conversation and is grinning cruelly at Blanche in triumph as Stella clings to him. “..the lights fade away with a lingering brightness on their embrace”. What is the effect of this stage lighting? In Scene Ten and Scene Eleven, when do “lurid reflections appear on the walls”? What is the effect?

Sound effects and prosodics Can you explain the effect of the following examples? In Scene 1, while Blanche is waiting for her sister, “A cat screeches”. In Scene 3, when Stella leaves Stanley, the audience hear “Dissonant bass and piano sounds.”

Positioning When Stella is first seen, she stands above her husband on the first floor balcony as Stanley throws the meat up to her. Why do you think Williams chose to position her there? The violence Stanley commits against Stella and Blanche is off stage. Why?

recap Novelists can easily create descriptive passages, but playwrights rely on dialogue and stage directions to convey characterisation. Music, sound effects and lighting are manipulated to create mood with recurrent pieces being useful to link ideas, memories or feelings of specific characters or events. Positioning of the actors on stage can suggest unequal encounters or power play.