A Streetcar Named Desire, Phoenix Theatre

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When the mentally fragile, washed-up Southern belle Blanche DuBois (Patsy Ferran) is dropped off in New Orleans by the eponymous streetcar to stay with her younger sister Stella (Anjana Vasan), her quips, alcoholism and murmurs of her promiscuous past unnerve the patriarchal-minded townsfolk. She soon clashes with her docile sister’s violent misogynist of a husband Stanley, leading to her rape and, for this is a man’s world, sectioning.

A Streetcar Named Desire. (front) Paul Mescal and Anjana Vasan. Photo: Marc Brenner

Despite being written the best part of a century ago, Streetcar tells a story that could happen virtually anywhere in the world, any time. It’s a tale of domestic abuse, rivalry between a sibling and spouse (hello, British royals!), and frictions between the middle and working classes. Heck, there’s even a reference to star signs determining romantic compatibility to enthral a younger audience.

Trickiest to stage are, of course, the play’s intense scenes of violence, in particular Blanche’s rape. By this point, Mescal has proved he's capable of flying from zero to a hundred, veins throbbing, spit flying as he terrorises the women in his home. A hulk of taut muscles in a tank top, the actor – who audiences will have last seen playing one of two gentle characters dealing with depression – he does a sound job of portraying Williams’ emotionally stunted, volatile abuser.

A Streetcar Named Desire. Paul Mescal and Patsy Ferran. Photo: Marc Brenner

Frecknall approaches the play’s climax artfully and classily, smothering any potential for melodrama by making it abstract. We see the production’s somewhat sinister, watchful chorus snatch at Blanche’s clothes like a pack of wild animals while the 'bestial' Stanley looks on, then the lights blink to Blanche letting out a harrowing scream in the shower.

It’s credit to Ferran’s performance that this scene makes such an impact. In fact, it’s hard to believe the Almeida regular – who previously played the lead in Frecknall’s Summer and Smoke, winning an Olivier for her performance – only joined the production at the last minute, replacing Lydia Wilson, who was forced to withdraw due to an injury. The endlessly watchable Ferran plays Blanche as skittish and dry-humoured, never attempting to mask her fragility.

A Streetcar Named Desire. Patsy Ferran. Photo: Marc Brenner

Frecknall’s production is faithful to Williams’ preference for expressionism over naturalism. Staged in the round, it runs like a dimly lit fever dream (well, nightmare), with a chorus passing the odd prop onto the otherwise bare stage and designer Madeleine Girling’s (Amélie the Musical) curtain of rain providing brief moments of visual splendour. Gone is the play’s famous blue piano and in its place are Gabriela García’s echoey, haunting vocals and Tom Penn’s drum kit, sending jarring crashes of symbols and ominous rumblings across the auditorium in keeping with the atmosphere on stage.

Is there a future West End run for Frecknall’s Streetcar? It’s hard to say. The success of this production is in large part thanks to electric central performances from Mescal and Ferran, two actors in high demand right now – who will be even more so following the visibility of cinema’s award season. (The movie Living, in which Ferran plays the sidelined character of Mr Williams’ daughter Fiona, is up for nearly as many awards as Mescal’s After Sun.) Our advice? Do what you must to snap up a ticket to this powerful revival while it’s here.