Aussie director makes most of moving masterpiece.

Clapham Picture House, London

September 6, 2014

National Theatre Live films are performances of the crème de la crème of National Theatre productions filmed live, in front of an audience. The NT pundits clearly choose shows which are top notch in every way – what varies is the way the production is effected by being filmed.  When I heard that Tennessee Williams’ masterpiece A Streetcar Named Desire (the inspiration for Woody Allen’s film Blue Jasmine) was to be part of NT Live’s latest program, I was surprised. I knew the production had been one of 2014’s biggest critical successes, so the show would be of an excellent standard, but I was surprised on another count.

Streetcar was produced not by the National Theatre but the Young Vic, an off-West End venue housed in an elderly building, part of which began life as a butcher’s shop. Its main auditorium is a flexible space frequently used for in-the-round productions and Streetcar was one of those.  A feature of such productions is that the audience on the opposite side of the “round” is constantly visible to you, though by some theatre magic you soon stop being aware...