A Streetcar Named Desire task write-up

Authors Avatar

Ella Gordon        Drama GCSE Tasks        3rd December, 2008

        Over the last few lessons in drama we have been working on a number of tasks to do with Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire”. These tasks involved using movement as well as words; some were naturalistic and others were much more abstract.

        Our first task was to walk like different characters from the play, focusing on the way they used certain parts of their body to show their personalities. First we had to walk like Stanley. Most of us walked with a confident swagger, sticking our chests or pelvises out to indicate his masculine pride. When we were asked to sit down in character, we sat back in a relaxed manner, opening our legs and perhaps loosely crossing our arms or draping them over the back of our chair, indicating total self-assuredness. Next we were asked to play Blanche. I decided to portray her as a fidgety person, constantly smoothing her clothes, fixing her hair or touching her face, to show her insecurities and lack of confidence. I also walked with short, dainty steps, to show how fragile and slight she is. When we sat down, I leaned forward slightly, with my shoulders slightly hunched, to show her vulnerability. Finally we were asked to portray Stella – standing upright, slightly tense as if waiting to heed to Stanley’s latest demands – and Mitch – big, awkward, slightly more hunched and less confident-looking than Stanley.

Join now!

        After this task, we were asked to depict Stanley and Blanche as animals. For Stanley, nearly everyone acted like a wolf or a fox – strong, territorial, sly, always hunting and watching. For Blanche, I chose to act like a small bird, which would preen and look pretty but would be fidgety and nervous and would fly away when frightened.

        Our next task was to get into groups and act out scenes taking place before the play begins, which would reveal something interesting about our characters. I was in a group with Emily, and we were told to ...

This is a preview of the whole essay