A Streetcar Named Desire

Lisa Rosenhagen as Stella and Thomas Borrillo as Stanley Photo: Germinal Stage Denver

On the compact Germinal Stage Denver, where every movement and nuance takes on larger than life significance, the cramped basement apartment of Stanley (Thomas Borrillo) and Stella Kowalski (Lisa Rosenhagen), coupled with the humidity and heat of New Orleans, let loose incendiary emotional forces laying in wait for a spark, which appears in the form of Stella's sister, Blanche (Michelle Moore).

Director Ed Baierlein taps into the mother lode of Tennessee Williams' rich poetry, by pushing the Southern dialect a couple of notches toward verisimilitude, and deep psychological forces, with a pitch perfect cast and, thanks to Sallie Diamond's sublime costumes, just the right touch of mythic symbolism.

Thomas Borrillo as Stanley and Michelle Moore as Blanche Photo: Germinal Stage Denver

Moore's lucid and dreamy portrait brings Blanche's defensive prevarications and poetical musings into clear focus. Baierlein wisely chooses to go the Greek route in putting Stanley's physical invasion of Blanche offstage, thus turning their final confrontation into a symbolic marriage representing the triumph of the material over the spiritual, one of Williams' recurring themes.

Borrillo defines Stanley on his own terms, showing us the logic, however flawed, of Stanley's motivations. Rosenhagen masterfully balances Stella's strong physical attraction to Stanley with her disgust at his complete lack of savoir faire. Baierlein parlays Borrillo and Rosenhagen's palpable chemistry into a hot scene that makes Stanley's claims, regarding Blanche's intrusion on their lives, stand up.

Leroy Leonard as Mitch and Michelle Moore as Blanche Photo: Germinal Stage Denver

Strong performances from Leroy Leonard as Mitch, Mary Cates as Eunice, and the rest of the ensemble, make for a memorable rendition of this classic—one in which Williams' great gifts are given their full range of expression.

Germinal Stage Denver's A Streetcar Named Desire runs through December 11th. 303-455-7108.

Bob Bows