A Streetcar Named Desire: sheer dynamite and startlingly erotic

Marge Hendrick as Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire

Bethany Kingsley-Garner as Stella and Marge Hendrick as Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire

Marge Hendrick with Scottish Ballet in A Streetcar Named Desire

Guest principal Ryoichi Hirano and Marge Hendrick in A Streetcar Named Desire

By Kathy Elgin, 16 April 2023

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“combining secure classicism with adventurous and sometimes hair-raising modernity”

Reviewed at Theatre Royal, Glasgow on 13 April 2023

A Streetcar named Desire (Annabelle Lopez Ochoa)

Scottish Ballet

Nancy Meckler, Director

Nicola Turner, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Tim Mitchell, Lighting Designer

Marge Hendrick, Dancer

Ryoichi Hirano, Dancer

Bethany Kingsley-Garner, Dancer

Javier Andreu, Dancer

Jerome Anthony Barnes, Dancer

Northern Ballet’s Gentleman Jack: brave but bland at Sadler’s Wells

Jonathan Gray, 19th May

A bold choice for Northern Ballet, Gentleman Jack is beautifully danced but doesn’t go far enough in celebrating difference, individuality and freedom.

***11

Exciting talents and mixed choreography in Paris Opera Junior Ballet

Vikki Jane Vile, 29th January

Established in 2024, Paris Opera Junior Ballet has been touring extensively since early 2025, with Bonn’s Opera House the latest stop.

***11

Paris Opera Junior Ballet: a plethora of emerging talent

Deborah Weiss, 19th June

A very welcome visit from the Paris Opera Junior Ballet to the Linbury Theatre displays the company in a very favourable light, in a variety of works.

****1

Queensland Ballet: Behind the ‘rags to riches’ story of Coco Chanel

Ruth Ridgway, 4th October

Coco Chanel: the Life of a Fashion Icon is a visually beautiful work about an unscrupulous character and a great addition to Queensland Ballet's repertoire.

****1

BAAND Together Dance Festival: five major companies go toe-to-toe

Carla Escoda, 30th July

Five of the best-known dance companies based in New York City have united for a weeklong program every summer since COVID. This year they shared a stage but stuck to their own rep.

****1

Scottish Ballet's A Streetcar Named Desire: sensual but tragic

Deborah Weiss, 16th May

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's A Streetcar Named Desire for Scottish Ballet fires on all cylinders. Compelling drama and outstanding dancing make this a must-see.

*****

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Kathy Elgin

After a career in publishing, Kathy Elgin turned her enthusiasm for dance into a real job by joining the late, great John Percival, Dance Critic of The Times, in his re-launch of Dance and Dancers magazine in 1981. She was later delighted to join its rival, The Dancing Times, as Scottish correspondent until the magazine’s sad demise in 2022. She lives in Edinburgh.