Spectacle indeed.

A Southern Spectacle

Actor's Playhouse presents a Williams classic

By Cheree Franco

Special to Rankin Ledger

In A Streetcar Named Desire, native Mississippian Tennessee Williams crafted an ambitious drama, layered with witty symbolism, lust, lies and Southern decorum.
And Actor's Playhouse in Pearl, where Williams' play will be performed this month, is no stranger to ambition.
Photos of past productions - Les Misérables, Chicago and The Sound of Music - line the corrugated walls of this warehouse-turned-theater. The current enthusiasm onstage, as the actors wisecrack their way through a tenuous rehearsal - their first "off script" - promises a unique take on Williams' classic.
Kristi Johnson, a daytime education administrator in the surgical department at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, has spent recent evenings blocking sets and coaching actors, as the director of the Playhouse's upcoming performance of Streetcar.
"I'm really focusing on the theme of self-preservation," she explained. "Stanley is openly designated 'animal,' but every one of these characters is motivated by the basic instinct to 'kill or be killed.' They each stand to lose something that defines their existence."
Explaining the character he portrays, Clif Kirkland said, "Stanley's only thought is to remove the threat" posed by Blanche's visit and her haughty appraisal of his "vulgar" lifestyle.
After a pause, Kirkland added, "He always has to be right about everything. I'm not sure Stanley's very likable."
A police officer at Hinds Community College, Kirkland took part in the school's recent production of Much Ado About Nothing.
"I'm still riding that high, so I wanted to get back to the stage as soon as possible," he said. "That's why I auditioned for Streetcar."
"My character's likeable," Andy Achord interjected. "Mitch is a good person in a play of confused characters."
A busy dentist, Achord pursues acting as a retreat from the daily grind. He was drawn to Streetcar, his third show with Actor's Playhouse, because of its Southern setting.
"This play is an actor's play in every sense," Johnson notes. "It gives the actors a chance to challenge themselves, sink their teeth into a character and experience that may be disturbing and difficult to address."
Or, as Annie Cleveland put it, "Streetcar is a real show that means something. It's hard as a young adult to get a show like this."
The remaining key cast members, Cleveland and Kerri Courtney, playing Stella and Blanche respectively, are pursuing careers in theater.
"It's fun to be onstage, to step into someone else's skin for a purpose. To be able to influence an audience, that's the coolest thing," Courtney said.
A sophomore at Belhaven, she is already an eight-year theater veteran.
Cleveland, a high school senior, credits her dramatic education to Murrah's Academic and Performing Arts Complex program. She plans to study theater at the University of Southern Mississippi.
"At first I did not want to be in front of people, but a friend drug me to an audition in eighth grade, and I ended up liking it," she said. "Somehow, you're saying words that are not your words, but it's still so personal and powerful because you're connecting with people."
Tennessee Williams may be powerful, but he's also intimidating, Johnson said.
"The audience expects so much when they come to see this play," he said. "This is my directorial debut, so I'm learning as I go, but I've got a talented cast, and I'm fortunate to have the guidance and support of Lavonne Bruckner," Actor's Playhouse artistic director.
Courtney said Bruckner is doing great things with the Pearl theater.
"There's so much talent in Mississippi, and Actor's Playhouse is a perfect venue to showcase that," Courtney said.

Other than the fact that my quotes were badly paraphrased, pretty neat. And that pic? Awful.