Southern View: March 03, 2020

SOUTHERN VIEW Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Tuesday March 3 2020 7
News
Performer’s dream role in dark play
• By Georgia O’Connor-Harding
THE OPPORTUNITY to
perform in arguably one of the
most critically successful plays
of the 20th century isn’t one that
comes along often.
That is why Amy Straker from
Woolston jumped at the chance
to play the complex character
of Stella Kowalski in American
playwright Tennessee Williams’
moving masterpiece A Streetcar
Named Desire.
The play is running until
March 14 at The Court Theatre.
It is famous for its exploration of
the struggle women faced in the
1940s to control their future -
along with domestic brutality.
From the moment Straker
saw a low budget version of the
show nearly 17 years ago in the
city, she was drawn to the role of
Stella.
But it was when she saw her
favourite actress Morgana
O’Reilly play Stella in the Silo
Theatre season of the production
in Auckland in 2017, she was
inspired to play the role.
“The stuff I am really drawn to
about her is her amazing ability
to see the good in people and to
find the light in life, I think she
is an essential part of the show,”
she said.
But Straker said Stella is also a
product of her own environment
and is trapped in many ways
in how she is dependent on her
husband Stanley.
The story centres around
Blanche DuBois, played by Claire
Dougan, who arrives in New
Orleans after the fall of her family
home, desperate for a place to
stay.
Her sister Stella takes her in
but tensions flare as Stella’s husband
keeps a brooding eye on his
new sister-in-law.
Straker said it was also the
sisterly connection between
Blanche and Stella that drew her
in more than anything and Dougan
is like a big sister to her.
For a long time, she has been a
favourite for major productions
in the city.
Her talent has seen her perform
in numerous productions
in New Zealand, Australia and
London over the last 13 years
and is the co-creator of Cubbin
Theatre Company.
BOND: Claire
Dougan as Blanche
and Amy Straker
as Stella in The
Court Theatre
production’s A
Streetcar Named
Desire. Straker has
described Dougan
as like a big sister
to her.
PHOTO: EMMA
BRITTENDEN
But she described taking part
in That Bloody Woman, which
debuted at the Christchurch
Arts Festival in 2015, as a “gamechanger”
in her career.
“In the way that I work and my
partner Cameron and I got together
on that show and we now
have a little girl called Poppy, it
literally changed my life”.
To book tickets to see A Streetcar
Named Desire go to https://
courttheatre.org.nz
Cumnor Tce
one-way
proposal
A PROPOSED plan to make
a section of Cumnor Tce in
Woolston one-way to allow for a
footpath is open for community
feedback.
People have until Monday to
share their views on the proposal
online through the city council’s
Have Your Say page.
The section between Chapmans
Rd and Maunsell St is part of the
Heathcote Expressway Major
Cycle Route.
Another section, between
Maunsell St and Marshall St, is
already one-way heading north.
The proposed change to the
already approved cycleway design
will allow for the retention of the
footpath on the non-cycleway
side of the road, improving pedestrian
and road safety.
It will also ensure there is no
impact on the Heathcote River
following concerns over any potential
effect on the freshwater
habitat, with a narrower road not
encroaching on the river environment.
The cycleway connects
Heathcote with the central
city via Woolston, Opawa and
Phillipstown. The first section
between the central city and The
Tannery is open.
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