Theatre Outré present A Streetcar Named Desire this week

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Theatre Outré brings something a little more mainstream to the Club Didi stage this week— Tennessee Williams’ 1947 drama “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
 It runs  Monday, Sept. 23 to Saturday, Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. each night.


“ But we’re already sold out for Monday Friday and Saturday and we have one ticket left for Tuesday,” said director Jay Whitehead.
 There is also a matinee performance, at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Erica Hunt and Nick Bohle rehearse a scene from A Streetcar Named Desire. Photo by Richard Amery
“ If you just remember  the play from English class, then you’re in for a big surprise,” Whitehead continued.
“ This season, Theatre Outré is celebrating the work of queer theatre  playwrights. Tennessee Williams is one of the best. And I’ve always wanted to do A Streetcar Named Desire,” he said.


 The play has a really stripped down stage,  so the audience is right in the middle of the show. It features a stripped down cast and a lot of familiar faces from Theatre Outré, New West Theatre, Impromptu and Shakespeare in the park. New West veteran Erica Hunt plays Blanche , local musician and film maker Nick Bohle plays Stanley. The Groove Apostles’ Shelby Wilson returns to Lethbridge to play Stella, Shakespeare in the Park and Theatre Outré veteran  plays Mitch, Erica Barr is Eunice and Shakespeare in the Park veteran Daniel J Perryman plays  Steve and several other characters.
“All of the cast have performed or trained in Lethbridge,” Whitehead said.

“ It’s about  Blanche who visits her sister Stella in New Orleans and has  a lot of run ins with Stanley and after two hours, Blanche  is done in by it by the end,” Whitehead summarized.

 

Erica Hunt and Nick Bohle rehearse a scene from A Streetcar named Desire. Photo by Richard Amery
“ This play is really different. It is a really personal and intimate stage so the audience is right in the middle of the play. So it is a really intense and theatrical experience in a really intimate  place,” he continued.
Erica Hunt is excited to play Blanche.


“ I’m really excited. I don’t often get the opportunity to perform in scripted plays very often,” said Hunt, who was in Theatre Outré’s production of Vigil in 2017.


“ I only had eight lines in it, but I was on stage the whole time. I have a lot more lines in this play,” she chuckled.


Nick Bohle, who has been spending more time on stage as a singer and guitarist with Dead Army, then as an actor, is most excited to work with Jay Whitehead again.
“ Jay was one of my professors . It is always inspiring. When Jay summons you, you come. Because it is always going to be an exciting experience. It is always a privilege,” Bohle said.
 Theatre Outré’s production of A Streetcar Named Desire runs Sept. 23-28 at 8 p.m.. Due to  demand, they have added two extra performances Oct. 1 and 3.

— by Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
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