ORLANDO, Fla. – It’s a story of truth, lies, memory and desire told through dance.
The Orlando Ballet presents, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play written by Tennessee Williams in the late 1940s.
This particular production uses a simple object to create different scenes that bring the story to life.
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“Obviously we’ll have backdrops and lighting, but the things you’ll see in the room are the things we’re using to create all the scenes,” said Orlando Ballet Stager Anastacia Holden.
The set-up created by a number of individual crates.
“Crates become all sorts of different things in this piece including a house set, a bet and even a bowling alley scene,” Holden said. “One of the create formations become a ball return where you get the ball back and several seats and we’ll see panels of light representing the lanes where the dancers will bowl. There’s also a jukebox. It creates an environment out of really simple materials.”
The provocative drama follows the main character, Blanche DuBois, a southern bell whose experiences of personal loss lead her to New Orleans moving into a rundown apartment with her sister and brother-in-law.
“The audience can expect a range of emotion, a lot of excitement...from extravagant joyfulness to the harder emotions that we face in life....something we all can relate to,” Holden said.
The challenge of this show? Telling a story through dance.
International choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa works closely with theater and film director Nancy Meckler to make sure the audience can follow the emotional journey without the dancers saying a word.
“These characters are really complex people. A lot of character development here,” Holden said. “There is a lot of acting in this ballet. That’s really different from other pieces you’d see on a ballet stage. That is partially because of the collaboration between dance choreographer and a dramaturge who’s mostly working in theater, it is really different for dancers to investigate a character in this way that needs to be very pedestrian and natural.”
A Streetcar Named Desire will be performed by the Orlando Ballet at the Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts in Orlando April 27 through the 30th.
According to Dr. Phillips website, the show is recommended for adult audiences due to it’s mature themes.