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Hilary Holbrook Jason Wisnewski Lauren Cerkiewicz Abigail Trabue Laura Sturm Mason Hill Alex Thompson Noe Jara Andrea Morales
   Hilary Holbrook     Jason Wisnewski     Lauren Cerkiewicz      Abigail Trabue         Laura Sturm             Mason Hill             Alex Thompson               Noe Jara                 Andrea Morales 
      Violinist                 Steve                     Eunice                    Stella                       Blanche                     Stanley                        Mitch                        Pablo                   Mexican Woman
Krystel McNeil Zach Overstreet
Krystel McNeil       Zach Overstreet
The Negro Woman  The Young Collector
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
October 2 - November 15, 2009
Kim Boler Michael Welles
  Kim Boler           Michael Welles
  The Nurse              The Doctor   
Time Out Chicago Says: Four Stars!

“Williams's claustrophobic classic has been lampooned and adapted so many times it's now as much a shorthand for a certain strain of Southern experience as it is a play. Polarity opts for a faithful, straightforward revival, with whiskey nips and random acts of psychological violence intact.

“As Blanche DuBois, Laura Sturm simultaneously shatters and fades, selling both camp madness and brutalized delicacy with the same aplomb. Refusing the invitation to overact Blanche's lush, pathetically poetic language, Sturm instead handles it with a deft touch, while Mason Hill imbues his Stanley with flat mook menace and unexpected comic timing. Abigail Trabue…watching agape as Stanley strips away Blanche's lily-white pretension, and the rest of the cast nicely summons the hivelike hum of a hot New Orleans summer.

“The small Polarity space emphasizes the corseting tension of three people living on top of each other, but it's the offstage violin music of Blanche's demons that truly unsettles. It's an old song but still a chilling one.” -- Melissa Albert, Time Out Chicago

"Polarity Ensemble Theatre is giving Williams' eternally popular "A Streetcar Named Desire" the kind of stick-to-your-ribs Chicago storefront revival that is mighty satisfying...a true star performance from Laura Sturm as Blanche...Sturm is mesmerizing." -- Joe Stead, SteadStyleChicago.com


Laura Sturm as Blanche

“Solid…Tense Psychological Triangle”
Chicago Reader

“This Polarity Ensemble Theatre rendition of Tennessee Williams's 1947 masterpiece is solid… Focusing on the tense psychological triangle between faded southern belle Blanche duBois, her sister Stella, and Stella's brutish husband Stanley Kowalski, Williams's tragedy explores the fears of death and mental illness that haunted him. Under Ann Keen's direction, Laura Sturm captures Blanche's terror and desperation…The production's strongest scenes are those between Blanche and Stella (Abigail Trabue), who loves her sister but is increasingly frustrated and confused by Blanche's erratic behavior.”
– Albert Williams, Chicago Reader

Five Stars. “From start to finish this was a moving and powerful production. I highly recommend this show!!”
Time Out Chicago online, posted by C. Brown

Five Stars. “My wife and I absolutely loved A Streetcar Named Desire. The performances are hauntingly powerful.”
Time Out Chicago online, posted by Michael Gorla

View the slide show.


A Streetcar Named Desire ran at Polarity's space in the Josephinum Academy, 1500 N. Bell, Chicago from October 2 - November 15, 2009.

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Mason Hill and Abigail Trabue


Ann Keen, Director
Kaily Anderson, Assistant Director
Abigail Trabue, Production Manager
Michelle Rossi, Stage Manager
Eliot Scott, Assistant Stage Manager
Kaitlyn Kearn, Costume Designer
Ashley Ann Woods, Set Designer
Stephanette Smith, Lighting Designer
Alex Reimers, Technical Designer
Joel Rosal, Props Designer
Heath Hays, Sound Designer
Mason Hill, Violence Choreographer
Jason Epperson, Marketing/PR
Ann Keen, Managing Director
Richard Engling, Artistic Director




Alex Thompson, Mason Hill, Abigail Trabue, Noe Jara, Jason Wisnewski

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