T&D Features Editor

B

e prepared for an emotional roller coaster ride as the Orangeburg Part-Time Players presents Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire," June 5-14 at the BlueBird Theatre in downtown Orangeburg.

"Streetcar" tells the story of Blanche DuBois, a disillusioned woman who finds herself living in a tiny flat with her sister Stella and her husband Stanley Kowalski following a series of tragic personal events. Blanche's life has been undermined by romantic illusions that lead her to reject the realities of life. But her cover of snobbery and sexual propriety is blown by Stanley, who sees through her act and seeks the truth about Blanche's past, chipping away at her sanity along the way. In the end, Blanche is driven mad.

"This show is heavy," said Jacqueline Skubal, director. "It takes place in 1947. That was a different world. We have tried to understand that world and to make sure we are living in that world on stage. ... (The cast) worked hard to understand the life the characters are living, particularly the women. Women such as these (Blanche and Stella) did not have many choices back then, compared to today.

"I think the audience will be moved by this show. If we do it right, we will take them on a very emotio

nal ride."

Starring as Blanche is veteran actress Kimberly Rigney. She said her character is patterned after Williams' sister Rose, who was schizophrenic and had a lobotomy that incapacitated her for the rest of her life. "He (Williams) never got over that," Rigney said.

"I think he wanted Blanche posed as a sympathetic character, and I've tried to present that," she said. "I've tried to be very real, pull from my own life ... feelings of rejection, loneliness, struggle for power. We all have them."

The greatest challenge with bringing Blanche to life is portraying her insanity and those transitions, Rigney said.

"Blanche doesn't have any hope," she said. "She's looking for her looks, men, alcohol to be her hope, and everything lets her down, and she crumbles. ... It's helpless, it's despairing, and it shows you what will happen if you don't have hope.

"I want the audience to see Blanche as a real person, not as some sort of caricature of someone they may know. This is her last stop, her last hope, and it goes downhill from there. She's already so upset from so many situations and relationships. She hopes for some sort of refuge, (but) Stanley is her worst nightmare."

Stanley will be played by Rob Clariday, who said this is his first-ever theatrical production.

"Stanley is kind of a man's man, rough around the edges, if not throughout. Probably a product of the time ... his morals are different from what they are today, probably what they were at that time," Clariday said. "He's a little wild, he's a loose cannon, flies by the seat of his pants, that sort of thing. He's not as complex as the rest of the characters. Kind of apish."

Clariday said he kind of likes Stanley's manliness -- minus his disturbing actions of hitting his pregnant wife and raping his sister-in-law.

"At the end, you want him to get his just, but it never happens," he said.

Carmen Keigans, an accomplished musician and veteran OPTP actress, is portraying Blanche's sister Stella, who has issues of her own, one being the abusive husband with whom she is madly in love.

"I think she's a woman who's trying to please both her family and her husband at the same time," Keigans said. "She is consumed by the people she's with. In the show, there's a constant struggle between her allegiance with one or the other, her husband or her sister. The battle between Blanche and Stanley -- my character epitomizes that struggle."

Keigans said this is her first truly dramatic role, and it's been a challenge.

"I think the most difficult part of this play is the emotional roller coaster," she said. "Emotionally, they are all over the place. Stella's just trying not to lose her mind along with her sister.

"I think it's a play that might touch a deep chord with some people."

Eric Collins, who portrays Harold "Mitch"

Mitchell, a mild-mannered friend of Stanley's and would-be suitor of Blanche's, said this is one of the most difficult dramas to stage.

"Tennessee Williams is very specific about what he wants," the veteran actor said. "This is a very deep, very technical show. It's a challenge to make it look just right. I think we're really hitting our stride now."

Collins said he thinks the 1951 movie version of "Streetcar," directed by Elia Kazan and starring Vivien Leigh as Blanche, Marlon Brando as Stanley and Kim Hunter as Stella, gives people a false sense of what the play is about.

"But when you see this performed on stage, you see that this is a play that deals with very dark human emotions," he said. "I hope the audience gets pulled in and even a little unsettled by seeing the dark nature in everyone."

Skubal said while it has been a difficult show to stage, the cast and crew have stepped up to the challenge.

"There are so many emotional layers to work through," she said. "This is probably the most challenging drama I've done. 'The Diary of Anne Frank' and 'Of Mice and Men' also called for a lot of research and a lot of study to not only understand the show, but also to figure out how to stage it so that the message is conveyed to the audience."

Orangeburg audiences have been receptive to the recent reemergence of heavy dramas on the OPTP stage, Skubal said.

"'Of Mice and Men' was very well received," she said. "We also had much larger houses than any of us expected. I still hear positive comments from folks about that show.

"This show is going to be exceptional. The cast has been a joy to direct. They have been partners with me in the production all the way. ... The actors have worked hard exploring their characters. We have had extensive discussions during rehearsals, and they have worked outside of rehearsals as pairs and small groups. Frequently, they stay after rehearsal and discuss what happened in rehearsal and how to change or improve it."

The reward for Skubal has been seeing the actors develop into the characters they are playing, she said.

"I get a charge from watching the actors 'get it' as they understand what they need to do and then do it," Skubal said. "There is that thrill in watching opening night, knowing how far they have come from those first rehearsals, (and) seeing the audience's response."

Rigney said all of the extra work she and the rest of the cast have put into developing their characters has been worth it.

"We want to present the truth, not acting," she said. "I think the audience is going to enjoy themselves. ... It's just life, and I think people are going to enjoy that. It's so much better than the movies -- it's real. It's going to be awesome."

Showtimes for "A Streetcar Named Desire" are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, June 5-6 and 12-13, and 3 p.m. Sundays, June 7 and 14. Tickets are $10 for children 16 years of age and younger and seniors 55 and older and $12 for adults. This show is not recommended for young children.

For tickets, call the BlueBird Theatre at 803-536-5454 or Tony Drawdy at 803-536-3014.

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T&D Features Editor Wendy Jeffcoat Crider can be reached by e-mail at wjeffcoat@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5546. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

Cast of "A Streetcar Named Desire"

Blanche DuBois -- Kimberly Rigney

Stella Kowalski -- Carmen Keigans

Stanley Kowalski -- Rob Clariday

Eunice Hubbell -- Kim Whitesides

Steve Hubbell -- David Hutto Jr.

Harold "Mitch" Mitchell -- Eric Collins

Pablo Gonzales -- Ken Herring

Mexican woman -- Karen Curtis

A young collector -- Daniel Harward

Nurse -- Hope Curry

Doctor -- Frank Larisey

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