Characters and Casting

Equity casting has a policy known as non-traditional casting, in which actors are given an equal opportunity in casting, not taking into account their race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality or possible disability.  In some plays non-traditional casting is feasible as long as the differences do not interfere with the character itself and the script.  Due to the setting and time period of A Streetcar Named Desire, it is necessary to maintain most of the original casting that the playwright intended.  This play took place in the 1940s in New Orleans, where there was still segregation and patriarchal gender roles.  To do non-traditional casting would offset the play and would not work well, especially concerning gender and race since they play deals with the struggle between the sexes and race. 

Both Stella and Blanche have to be cast as white women because of their supposedly higher socioeconomic status that they were born into, which would not be possible for other ethnic women to attain in the South, especially African Americans.  The segregation laws in the South kept African-Americans below whites so that they could not advance socially, economically, or politically.  Because Stanley is a stereotypical American alpha male of that time period, he also especially has to be cast as white in order to best represent that stereotype.  He is controlling and keeps others below him, and when they try to be on the same level as him, he forces them back down.  His friends would also have to be cast as mostly white because whites’ during that time period typically did not befriend African-Americans. Pretty much any character with a middle to high socioeconomic status and power would have to be cast as white because that was the reality for that time period and setting.  Nationality would not matter as long as the characters could pull of being American and were white for the roles in which the characters were originally white.  This would also be the case for the characters that play the negro woman and the Mexican woman; their nationality would not matter as long as they looked the part.

Gender is also an essential component of the original casting in the play since the play deals with the conflict between both genders in a patriarchal setting.  If one of the character’s gender were switched, it would not make much sense for the play.  Age of the actor also would have to be pretty close the actual character age of the main characters because then the storyline would not coincide.  However, sexual orientation of the actor should not matter as long as they could pull of being heterosexual for the play.  Physical capability is necessary for most of the characters, especially the men since they are supposed to appear strong and masculine.  It would be interesting to see Blanche played with a minor disability in order to represent her mental instability more literally.  In A Streetcar Named Desire, most of the components of the original casting, such as gender and race, should be kept intact as it is essential to the play.