Stage Write

“STELLA!” The infamous line from A Streetcar Named Desire was firmly cemented in the annals of pop culture when Marlon Brando first belted it out decades ago. That is all many people know about the show, but Tennessee Williams’ work has much more to offer. The play delves deep into the complicated lives of the very different DuBois sisters.   Blanche, played with an escalating level of tense cheerfulness by Carrie Schlatter, is a southern belle who has fallen on hard times. Her troubled past has made her leave the family mansion to join her sister, Stella Kowalski in a rowdy neighborhood in New Orleans. Schlatter captures Blanche’s fragile state, vacillating from childish enthusiasm in one moment to snooty disdain in the next. She is in a perpetual state of performing a role, but whether it’s for her or for others is hard to tell. Stella’s husband Stanley, played by Chris Saunders, is coarse and uncouth in Blanche’s eyes and the two immediately butt heads. His raw se...

Awkward social situations, touchy marital talks, and discussions about uncomfortable issues, you’d expect nothing less from the playwright who wrote, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Acting Up Productions’ current show “At Home at the Zoo” is a unique play to say the least. Originally presented as a one act production called “The Zoo Story,” the playwright added another act to the beginning of the show decades later. The result is a strange blend, but a fascinating one. The first act (the newer of the two) introduces us to Peter and Ann, a content married couple who somehow end up discussing some delicate issues. The couple, played by Allison Reddick and Joshua C. Ramsey, are convincing as a pair who have grown accustomed to their monotonous lives. They’ve established a comfortable life, but like most couples, they long for a bit of excitement. Ann begins to wonder if they wouldn’t benefit from a little disorder in their world. The second and more well-known act follow...