AS LL STREETCAR PRODUCTION TWO TASKS

PRODUCTION TASK AND SOME NOTES TO CONSIDER FOR AN ANSWER

TASK

Imagine a brief dialogue between Stanley and Steve at the end of Scene eight where Stanley has taken Stella to the hospital. In the dialogue Stanley talks about the events of Blanche’s birthday party.

Give careful consideration to the language choices, form and style in order to convey a sense of a spontaneous dialogue between Stanley and Steve. Also give a sense of the voices attitudes and assumptions of Stanley and Steve.

NOTES FOR PLANNING

What is the context of this dialogue?

·         He feels pleased that Blanche will be leaving the apartment so soon

·         He’s looking forward to having just himself and Stella in the apartment

·         He’s angry about the way he has been treated since Blanche has arrived

·         He feels that Stella’s role as sister is more important than her role as wife

·         He is pleased that he has warned Mitch that Blanche is no good

Consider stage directions:

·         Because this is a scripted dialogue you should lay out your answer as if it was and extension of the play. Therefore you should plan to include at least one stage direction but no more than three. The stage direction should concentrate on Stanley’s body language or the way in which he speaks to Steve. He may shout.

·         If you are going to use a stage direction for Steve then use it to emphasise his passive and listening role in the dialogue.

Relevant representations of spontaneous speech:

·         This is an informal dialogue with a close friend – he will use colloquial language, contractions, ellipsis, he will use American slang [*see post]

·         The main aim of this dialogue is to present Stanley’s character,  his attitude towards Blanche,  his pleasure at upsetting Blanche, his satisfaction in protecting his friend Mitch

·         Use the character of Steve to enable Stanley to reveal these things.

·         I expect Steve will only ask two or three questions, show that he is listening to Stanley and either agree or disagree with Stanley’s actions.

The character of Stanley

·         He will show he is strong and justified in his behaviour

·         He will be judgemental of Blanche

·         He may be disappointed in Stella not supporting him

I expect Stanley will refer directly to scene four where he overheard Blanche and Stella talking about him.