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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Blanche Dubois and Stella Kowalski are catching up after a long absence, and the actors rehearsing their roles as the two Southern sisters in &#8220;A Streetcar Named Desire&#8221; literally climb on chairs as the tension ebbs and flows.</p><p>&#8220;You&#8217;re the one who abandoned Belle Reve, not I,&#8221; Blanche says at one point, implying it&#8217;s Stella&#8217;s fault the family homestead has been lost. &#8220;Where were you, in bed with your Polack?&#8221;</p><p>Ouch.</p><p>&#8220;The insults she comes up with are very bitchy,&#8221; said Angel Berlane Mulcahy, of Wilkes-Barre, who portrays Blanche in the B&amp;R Productions version of the Tennessee Williams classic.</p><p>Beginning tomorrow, the local, experimental theater will stage the show on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through March 17 at The Other Side at Bart &amp; Urby&#8217;s in downtown Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>With a compact stage and minimal props, director Justin John Costello said, the audience won&#8217;t be distracted from focusing on the four main characters and their complex relationships.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re all flawed people,&#8221; Costello said, speaking of Blanche and Stella; Stella&#8217;s husband, Stanley Kowalski; and Stanley&#8217;s friend, Mitch; who develops an interest in Blanche. &#8220;That&#8217;s what Williams is known for &#8212; realistic, flawed characters.&#8221;</p><p>Costello sees the four flawed characters as each representing a natural element.</p><p>In his director&#8217;s eye, Blanche, with her fondness for freshening up, is linked to water. &#8220;She spends 60 percent of her time in the bathtub,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And she says that when she dies she&#8217;ll be thrown into the ocean that&#8217;s the color of her first lover&#8217;s eyes.&#8221;</p><p>The combustible Stanley, meanwhile, stands for fire.</p><p>Peter Michael Feno, of Wilkes-Barre, who has that role, acknowledges the character is brutal, &#8220;but you&#8217;ll see he also has some compassion.&#8221;</p><p>Stella, with her desire to stay grounded and smooth things over in her chaotic life, represents earth.</p><p>&#8220;She tries to act like everything that happens is normal,&#8221; said Stephanie Skiro, of Hanover Township, who plays Stella. &#8220;She pretends that things aren&#8217;t wrong.&#8221;</p><p>Mitch stands for wind, and if all went well, he would be the breath of fresh air that helps Blanche restart her life after a series of bad luck and bad decisions.</p><p>&#8220;We establish a genuine romance between the two characters,&#8221; said Tony Thomas, who plays Mitch. &#8220;He could rescue her, but since this is a tragedy, it won&#8217;t work out. By the end, he&#8217;s upset by her lies. She&#8217;s not the genuine person he thought she was.&#8221;</p><p>Blanche, who presents herself as a well-to-do socialite when she arrives at Stella and Stanley&#8217;s home in New Orleans, is an expert at deception.</p><p>While her dismay at their living conditions is real enough &#8212; just watch Berlane Mulcahy&#8217;s subtle reactions as Blanche realizes the Kowalskis are tenants rather than owners of two small rooms in a section of town so shabby &#8220;only Mr. Edgar Allen Poe could do it justice&#8221; &#8212; Blanche does misrepresent many things, from her age to the reason she&#8217;s left her job as a teacher.</p><p>&#8220;She&#8217;s a borderline pedophile,&#8221; Costello said, referring to Blanche&#8217;s affair with a 17-year-old student, which was the real reason the superintendent told her to leave.</p><p>From the way Blanche&#8217;s past catches up with her to the way Stanley and Stella eventually end her long-term visit, &#8220;Streetcar&#8221; can be considered a depressing play.</p><p>&#8220;But the hope,&#8221; director Costello said, &#8220;is that it will start conversations.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t always talk about these topics,&#8221; he said, explaining the B&amp;R version of the play doesn&#8217;t flinch from the topics of mental illness, alcoholism, spousal abuse, rape and pedophilia. &#8220;B and R stands for &#8216;bare&#8217; and &#8216;raw,&#8217;&#8221; he said.</p><p>The play is intended for mature audiences, the director said, and should please newcomers to Williams&#8217; work as well as longtime fans.</p><p>Berlane Mulcahy, who admits she feels both physically and emotionally drained as she portrays Blanche, said she nevertheless enjoys bringing the playwright&#8217;s words to life.</p><p>While &#8220;it&#8217;s not a pretty story,&#8221; she said, &#8220;the way he writes is so poetic. The lines kind of roll off your tongue.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Angel Berlane Mulcahy portrays the emotionally fragile and faded Southern belle Blanche Dubois in &#8216;A Streetcar Named Desire.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_blancheportrait-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Angel Berlane Mulcahy portrays the emotionally fragile and faded Southern belle Blanche Dubois in &#8216;A Streetcar Named Desire.&#8217; </caption0><photoCredit0>Angel Berlane Mulcahy | On My Cue Photography </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_mitchportrait-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Tony Thomas portrays Harold Mitchell, a man who takes an interest in Blanche. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_mitchportrait-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Tony Thomas portrays Harold Mitchell, a man who takes an interest in Blanche. </caption1><photoCredit1>Angel Berlane Mulcahy | On My Cue Photography </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_stanleyportrait-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption"> Peter Michael Feno gets to yell &#8216;Stella&#8217; as Stanley Kowalski.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_stanleyportrait-1.jpg</photo2><caption2> Peter Michael Feno gets to yell &#8216;Stella&#8217; as Stanley Kowalski.  </caption2><photoCredit2>Angel Berlane Mulcahy | On My Cue Photography </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_stellaportrait.jpg">
<div class="neCaption"> Stephanie Skiro portrays Blanche&#8217;s sister, Stella Kowalski. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_stellaportrait.jpg</photo3><caption3> Stephanie Skiro portrays Blanche&#8217;s sister, Stella Kowalski. </caption3><photoCredit3>Angel Berlane Mulcahy | On My Cue Photography </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What: &#8216;</strong>A Streetcar Named Desire&#8217;</p><p><strong>Who: </strong>B&amp;R Productions</p><p><strong>When: </strong>Thursday through Saturday and March 15 through 17. Seating begins at 7:30 p.m. and curtain is at 8 p.m.</p><p><strong>Where: </strong>The Other Side at Bart &amp; Urby&#8217;s, 119 S. Main St., Wilkes-Barre</p><p><strong>Tickets:</strong> $15 cash at the door</p><p><strong> Note: </strong>This Tennessee Williams play is for mature audiences.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

‘Streetcar’ pulls into The Other Side in downtown Wilkes-Barre