A Streetcar Named Desire
by Tennessee Williams

presented July 17-August 10, 2003

Director: Susan Finque
Additional Staging and Direction: Fred Franklin
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Stella: Jacqueline Reid
Stanley : Arron Shiver
Blanche: Laurie Thomas
Mitch: Vernon Poitras
Eunice: Angela Littleton
Steve: Vic Browder
Pablo: John Hardman
Doctor: Wayne Rowe
A Collector: Nick Robbins
Mexican Woman: Florence Tonissi
Nurse: Teddy Eggleston

Reviews

"...Williams says he's always felt closest to people who are screwed-up in one way or another, people who don't adjust well to this world. He places these people in his plays not because he has any deep admiration for depressed, violent, mentally unstable men and women, but because he believes that to be well-adjusted in a country and world that are themselves so screwed-up is disturbing. That strange sympathy toward human shortcomings floods through the FUSION Theatre Company's production of Streetcar like a steaming river of sweat. The actors savor every inch of Williams' dark poetry. From start to finish, this is a technically polished but emotionally raw production, the kind of professional theater I rarely see in New Mexico ... a day before the opening, Arron Shiver stepped into the role of the belligerent Neanderthal, Stanley -- played so perfectly by Marlon Brando on Broadway and in the movie. It isn't particularly easy filling Brando's shoes under any circumstances, but, astonishingly, Shiver took to Stanley like a drunk takes to wine, putting in a truly brilliant performance. The rest of the cast is great, too. Jacqueline Reid, playing Stella, Stanley's wife, juggles the subtleties of that role well. Vernon Poitras plays the awkward doofus Mitch very convincingly, too. ...I'm happy to report, Laurie Thomas does everything right. Thomas is just so damned good--she's irritating, she's funny; she's pathetic, she's sympathetic. For my money, she presents an almost archetypal Blanche DuBois .... FUSION, as they have so often in the past, have shown they're up to the task of performing such stellar material. Trust me, these people know what they're doing. I can't recommend this play enough."--Steven Robert Allen, Weekly Alibi

"FUSION's latest production, A Steetcar Named Desire, could have been a war-horse. It's a classic of American theater for sure, but really, how many times has it been done? How many times has it been badly done? FUSION worked its magic though, breathing new life into a staple of the theater and giving Albuquerqueans thirsty for professional caliber performance an outstanding drama.... The performance hinges on the astounding ability of Laurie Thomas to transform herself into Blanche DuBois, the alternately funny, sad, tormented and tormenting Southern belle.... From the first scene, when a weary Blanche unexpectedly arrives at the young couple's tiny apartment, Thomas creates the portrait of a fragile woman teetering on the brink of madness.... Reid's Stella is a sensual woman, torn between the childhood role of sibling and her mature one as wife and soon-to-be mother... Shiver convincingly gives Stanley a primal quality, with violence lurking just beneath (and sometimes on) the surface. But Thomas is the star of the show. She's in almost every scene, many of them featuring long monologues exposing diverse emotions, one after another. Never does her accent waver, never does a hand motion seem unnecessary nor out of place, nor does her body show any hint of being anything other than Blanche, a broken, lonely, desperately unhappy woman."--Kelly Koepke, ABQArts

"The FUSION Theatre Company's production of A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams is spectacular. Williams won the Pulitzer Prize for this play more than 50 years ago, and this production at The Cell shows us why. The entire cast is strong, but Laurie Thomas is phenomenal as the faded Southern belle Blanche DuBois. Thomas continually displays new and compelling aspects of Blanche's character. Her subtly nuanced performance is one of the finest I have ever seen.... Arron Shiver took on the part of Stanley the day before opening, and he has done well considering the circumstances. Talented Jacqueline Reid is excellent in the rather thankless role of younger sister Stella. She maintains a trace of her character's plantation past and a believable reticence in her sister's presence. Her scenes with Thomas are powerful. Reid is also strong in showing Stella's sensual attraction to her husband. As mama's -boy suitor Mitch, Vernon Poitras does fine work.... The play belongs, however, to Thomas' Blanche. Thomas is able to convey palpable disdain as she enters her sister's apartment for the first time.... Portraying Blanche as a consummate actor (another word for liar), Thomas is superb in the roles she plays; those roles, however, take their toll. Thomas is wonderfully inventive as she stages Blanche's decline into madness.... Thomas showed me unexpected facets of Blanche with a classic performance of a classic role. Don't miss it."--Barry Gaines, ABQ Journal

Bye Bye Blackbird
by Willard Simms

presented May 8-June 1, 2003

Direction: Laurie Thomas
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Zelda Fitzgerald: Jacqueline Reid

Reviews

"Francis Scott Fitzgerald claimed to have coined the terms "flapper" and "Jazz Age." He didn't, but his wife, Zelda, epitomized both as no one else. As Willard Simms' Bye Bye Blackbird, playing at The Cell, powerfully demonstrates, Fitzgerald maintained that he invented ZElda as well.... Zelda's Southern lilt lingers like a perfume in Reid's performance and hints at the flirtation and sexuality potential in a beautiful woman. Yet Reid also conveys the anguish and fear that accompany a character for whom "boredom is the enemy."... Director Laurie Thomas has lovingly infused the production with the rich music, dance and art of the Jazz Age. Reid's poignant evocation has a cautionary relevance for the modern woman who may submerge her identity to her husband and/or children while desiring a distinctive persona outside the home. Zelda is reanimated, and you will approve of this form of theatrical cloning" -Barry Gaines, ABQ Journal

Bedbound
by Enda Walsh

presented February 13-March 9, 2003

Direction: Cecil O'Neal
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Dad: Gary Houston
Daughter: Erin Neal

Reviews

"Bedbound is currently playing in New York; it's also--in a coup de grace in production now at The Cell. The Cell hit the ground running and hasn't slown down. They do brand-new theater, edgy theater; and a few fun classics, such as last season's You Can't Take It With You. Both Houston and Neal are terrific actors, able to keep control of the torrents of words that fall from the characters' mouths....Director Cecil O'Neal does a fine job of choreographing the action on the tiny stage....Bedbound is a tour de force, and Daughter expresses the nothingness that being bedbound creates, and Dad is adept at expressing striving, always, to failure." --Ann L. Ryan, ABQ Journal

"The curtain doesn't part: It falls with a crash to the stage floor, revealing a girl in dirty pajamas seated on a brass bed covered with ratty, stained blankets. The room is bare, white, fluorescent. The walls and ceiling angle in to make the room's contents look more remote than they really are....In Bedbound, FUSION continues its brief but distinguished tradition of bringing the best possible theater to Albuquerque....O'Neal's stark, blindingly lit set is ideal for this darkly comical drama, and the performances by the two leads are very high caliber.... FUSION's Bedbound is a worthwhile production. The ticket price might be double what you pay at some other theaters in town, but in this case you'll definitely get what you pay for." --Steven Robert Allen, Weekly Alibi

"The Cell Theatre and its resident professional theatre company, FUSION, have brought another hot new play to town. An Irish father and furniture salesman and his polio-stricken daughter re-enact memories from their pasts in Walsh's very Irish play. The father erects walls and forms a sort of prison for his daughter. Entirely a countryman of William Butler Yeats and Samuel Beckett in theater style and James Joyce in use of language, Walsh's play has a rhythm that is infectious.The two actors, Chicagoans Gary Houston and Erin Neal, inhabit the stage for the entire play. Neal has the very difficult task of portraying her character with limited use of her body. FUSION's actors are all professional actors, so it is a treat to have the opportunity to see Bedbound, directed by another Chicagoan, Cecil O'Neal of the Tony award-winning Victory Gardens Theater. Just like other theaters in bigger cities, The Cell has a rush ticket policy for students on Thursday nights. For $10, students can see professional theater in downtown Albuquerque.
What the Cell and Fusion are doing for theater in Albuquerque is tremendous; they are providing a chance to see groundbreaking new plays and classics... but they also give local actors a shot at roles -- and a paycheck. The building they are housed in, located in the 'warehouse district' downtown south of Lomas on First Street, was practically empty a little over a year ago. I attended a rave there before its transformation and a few months later a brand new British play was on its stage with the first use of onstage cyber sex [Closer by Patrick Marber, presented February 13 through March 9, 2002]. The Cell doesn't try to put on a different show each weekend. Instead, it puts up quality shows for a good run." --Rafael Gallegos, Daily Lobo