'A Streetcar Named Desire' at The Donmar Warehouse

Last night Chris took me to see one of his favourite plays, 'A Streetcar Named Desire', at The Donmar Warehouse. I've somehow managed to avoid seeing it on telly, theatre or reading for my entire life, until last night. My association with Tennessee Williams is not a happy one, since I fell asleep during the one play of his I've seen, 'The Glass Menagerie' in Toronto a few years ago.

Two actrelles I'm pleased to see live were in full period-frock last night - Rachel Weisz and Daniella Nardini. Rachel looked very thin and pale, too thin, and Daniella has developed into a fine lump of a girl (as Chris's Ma would say) and I'm pleased to have seen them both on stage giving full-on southern belle accent and 1950s frock.

I must be honest and say that the first act is the longest first half ever imagined, going on forever as the shouting got louder. Did I mention shouting? Well, there was a lot - acting by shouting is how I thought of the first act. It seemed to calm down a bit in the second, with the shouting actually serving a dramatic purpose rather than gratuitous verbal aggression.

And that sort of sums up my problem with the play. I know it's possible to read the play differently but my reading is purely on the basis of an aggressive, abusive relationship given the veneer of being normal. I hated the way that the women in the play acted as if shouting and physically threatening behaviour is the norm. I hated the complacency. Perhaps that's what Mr Williams meant his audience to feel but I doubt it.

The bloke who played Stan was obviously chosen for his torso, abs and ability to shout and slur his words into an unrecogniseable accent while slapping and threatening women. Hardly something to be proud of. The whole morality of the play confused me, the deep passions and lusts (I hesitate at 'love'), the wife battering ending in rape or mutual passion - take your pick - and the final rape of Blanche on stage.

I should guess that you can see I wasn't the greatest fan of the production or play. I thought Rachel was fine (if a trifle full-on) and I quite liked Ruth Wilson as the younger sister happy to be abused by Polish white trash. And, of course, Daniella when she was doing more than helping to re-set the stage. I didn't enjoy it, but I'm pleased (in a way) that I've finally seen it at last.