[Jef Hall-Flavin]

2008

When I staged this iconic American classic in New Zealand, I didn't want preconceived notions (like Vivien Leigh or Marlon Brando) to get in the way of the audience's experience. Streetcar is a classic, universal play, like Hamlet. And since we no longer feel compelled to perform Shakespeare with English accents abroad, it made sense to treat Williams with the same respect, and use New Zealand accents.

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But it went much deeper than accents. I also felt it important to translate the ethnic and class differences in the play from 1940's New Orleans to Kiwi culture. Therefore, the play's ethnic mix was deliberately Māori, Pacific Island, and Pākehā (white New Zealander) rather than Polish, Mexican, and "Negro" as Williams calls for. This approach was not without controversy, but I felt strongly that the play should not be an exhibit under glass, or a pastiche of a famous film. It should be a living, vital event that we can experience as if for the first time.

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This production was also presented a year later at the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival with the original lead actors from New Zealand.