The semi-professional Canterbury Repertory Society is a spirited outfit. Undaunted by the loss of their theatre to the 2011 February earthquake, members have established a solid presence in the Elmwood Auditorium, once again rising above the compromises inevitably encountered in a space shared with the school on site as well as the Elmwood Players, whose home ground it is.

Nor has the appetite for tackling the great plays lessened, as is convincingly demonstrated by the current production. This American classic, often cited as Williams’ best, is hugely demanding in terms of casting and staging. It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1948 (coincidentally the year that Canterbury Repertory took ownership of their now demolished theatre) and has fired performance imagination in various media and adaptations ever since. 

Director Dan Bain assembles a worthy cast and creative team to deal with the challenge. Whereas the result will not figure as a definitive treatment, the opening night house leaves well pleased with a clutch of strong images to support the compelling script. A rattling good earthquake just before the interval fails to disrupt the focus of cast or audience. The fabricated past of Blanche DuBois is just about to unravel and no one wants to miss a beat.   

She has come to stay with her sister, Stella. At least that is the position at the outset. The run-down neighbourhood and Stella’s whole existence as wife to Stanley Kowalski are the first in a series of disappointments for her, ex-English teacher and from a pretentiously genteel Southern background. She has somehow allowed Belle Reve,(ah the dream) plantation slip away and as youth and romance are following it, Blanche engages in desperate cover ups and palliatives, including ensnaring ‘Mitch’, a frequenter of the household and a poker buddy of Stanley. 

There’s all the dramatic tension of a triangle arrangement then, as Stanley sets himself to expose Blanche’s duplicity. As well, the play explores the inevitable antagonism of beings at opposite ends of a spectrum; he all macho, defending his territory, she all about dreams. In the nature of art, the truth as witnessed by the audience widens the frame to say something about humanity. He is in his way the dreamer and she a realist, but his violence and power play will always triumph, at least in the short term.

The performance space for all this is wide and open, set up as a composite representation of the Kowalski two-room apartment with stairs at the side leading to an upper storey, where the noisy life of the neighbourhood flourishes. Dan Bain and Brenda Hayes are the enterprising joint designers of all this and whereas the result functions well enough for more intimate scenes, where characters are intensely involved in a concentrated space, the illusion is very fragile when entrances from the foyer or an imagined porch on the front of the building are involved.

Transitions between scenes cannot be avoided either. These are very swiftly achieved but inevitably some momentum is a casualty. Lighting design from Ian Harding does help and is used to support the changing moods of the play. Working together, sound (Jonathan Hill and Ambrose Gorman are credited here) and light do sometimes give an over-produced feel to the flow of things, as if too many ideas were going on at once for a script which offers the actor so much already.

Overall however, the cast is positioned to give us a convincing embodiment of the play. At the heart of it, the three central characters are played with great commitment and considerable skill.

As Stella, between the rock of Stanley and the hard place of Blanche, Margot Gray lives the part with assurance. Sebastian Boyle, playing Stanley, has a naturally strong stage presence and his physicality is absolutely right for the role.

For Naomi Ferguson as Blanche, the play marks a step up in the demands of the stage. Well known and well regarded as a talented chanteuse, she brings willowy elegance to the role. A little vivid and fresh for the fading Blanche perhaps, she nevertheless projects a subtle and steely intelligence which adds satisfying complexity to the essential battle with Stanley. 

A great play has a highly creditable airing in this production and Repertory can justifiably add this to its record as a significant contributor to theatre in Christchurch. 

Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer