Minimal version of ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ heading to Dupont Underground

“A Streetcar Named Desire”
Production: Tram Project
April 20th – May 4th
dupont underground
19 Dupont Circle, NW
Tickets start at $85.
dupontunderground.org

An aggressively minimalist version of Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” will be in operation at Dupont Underground (April 20-May 4), a nonprofit cultural space repurposed from an abandoned 1949 streetcar station below Dupont Circle.

The production of the tram project takes place in a site-specific space. There are very few design elements. No stuffy, cramped Vieux Carre apartments. We don’t see the explosion of cheap luxury goods in Blanche’s battered trunk, or the faded love letters, or the demands for delinquent property taxes, or the familiar costumes.

Co-produced in 2023 by Lucy Owen (Blanche Dubois) and director Nick Westrate, this travel prequel is Williams’ masterpiece about a vulnerable woman on the fringes who comes into conflict with her cruel brother-in-law. It is, like Shakespeare’s “Henry V,” an exploration of whether language alone can survive.

There are few distractions (even Blanche’s cultivated Southern belle accent is boldly removed), and the spotlight is almost solely on the text. “That’s the case with this play,” says Westrate, 42. “There’s a lot of movement, but it really reminds the actors that language is the only game in town.”

Westreit, a New York-based actor known for his role as Prior Walter in János Zasz’s “Angels in America” at Arena Stage, is well-known in New York and the region. He calls “Streetcar” “the most perfect play on the planet,” but although he agrees to direct it, he says it’s not a production he would consider starring in.

“You’re not likely to do ‘Streetcar’ these days unless you’re a movie star or a famous director. So for us, we have to be able to do it on the New York subway if we want to, with very little effort. And that’s kind of how we built it.”

Westrate’s first experience with the DuPont Underground was while attending a staged reading. He was so attached to the space as a place to photograph his work that it was difficult for him to concentrate. “The Dupont Underground is a terrifyingly beautiful room with long, curving tracks and tunnels that has great metaphorical weight and has so many possibilities for our production,” he says.

washington blade: Is finding the perfect space for this “streetcar” part of the thrill?

Nick Westrate: Whenever I walk into a strange room or pass an abandoned CVS, I try to think of how I could put on a show, especially in a dilapidated, architecturally odd, or potentially haunted location. Each space we use brings something to the work. Rachel Comey’s store in Soho was a space coded by Blanche. And in an artist’s workshop in Venice Beach, California, a giant saw and metal hook provided a vivid image. The scene between Blanche and Stanley near the end was really scary.

blade: These days, the same bare-bones productions have been performed in more traditional spaces, including Aspen’s Wheeler Opera House and San Francisco’s ACT. Is it difficult to go to DuPont Underground now?

Waist rate: Every time we do this, the production is completely new and we have to crack open the play all over again, but we’re used to performing in unusual spaces, and the Dupont Underground rather brings us back to what we’re supposed to be. It is the most appropriate space ever for a former tram station building.

The cast literally performs on streetcar tracks and travels without dressing rooms, but because they are in the game and have the history and authorship of the work, their sacrifices are more meaningful than if they were just hired guns.

blade: Audiences have expectations, especially for works they are likely to know. How will they react to Williams’ unadorned take on an American classic?

Waist rate: For the first 10-15 minutes, they aren’t sure. Then you’ll see your audience’s brains click and their imaginations kick in. It’s like I’m scratching an itch I didn’t even know I had.

blade: Did you and Lucy foresee this kind of momentum building behind your vision?

Waist rate: Absolutely not. Lucy had the philosophy that we just walk through an open door. In the early days, spaces were given and artists filled the seats, but over time they began renting out space and attracting more regular theatergoers.

We basically sell tickets to pay a living wage to the artists involved. There are no major institutions or commercial producers making a lot of money from this. All types of audiences seem to respond to the way this play is made.

blade: Having performed “Streetcar” intermittently, usually with the same cast, for three years at various venues, did you learn more about the work you already loved?

Waist rate: For the most part, I found Blanche to be the smartest character in a play I’ve ever read. She is like Hamlet, haunted by dreams and terrified by the fear of death. She is good at wordplay and is always ahead of everyone else in the room. Just like Hamlet, people think she is crazy and she uses that to her advantage.

Blanche is certainly an Everest role for an actress, and watching Lucy nail it in a way I’ve never seen her before is definitely one of the great joys of my career, knowing that I helped promote this performance.