Washington heavyweights including US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner have attended a gut-wrenching performance by Cate Blanchett at the Kennedy Centre. Blanchett has transplanted her Blanche Dubois and Sydney Theatre Company production of A Streetcar Named Desire to the US capital, receiving huge acclaim. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was also in the audience, which gave a thunderous standing ovation to the play. ”I thought it was wonderful. I had seen the movie. I had never seen it staged so I am used to Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh, but I think these are worthy successors,” said Jeff Bader, an Obama administration appointee to the National Security Council. Blanchett, whose late father was born in Texas, said it was daunting for Australians to perform an American masterpiece, complete with southern accents, to a US audience. But she said like all actors, her company wanted to be part of the ”taking these great works to the world and creating performances that transcended national borders”.
Nov 02