Streetcar Named Desire Mood

The frequent use of stage effects in Tennessee William’s A Street Car Named Desire makes it evident that the themes are not simply expressed just through dialogue, but also music and sound. The authors intent is to use these effects to set mood of a specific scene- or the whole play; to propose an idea, or an action; to show feeling of a character, and to let the audience know what he or she is thinking. These elements are not perceptible to the eye such as a prop but hearing and analyzing the sound and music in this play can create dramatic devices and ideas. It is the sound designer’s task to read the text, analyze the authors indications, collaborate with the director, and to mix or edit sounds. Williams used metaphors in his stage directions

A Street Car Named Desire takes place in the year of 1947 in the location of New Orleans. The play write mentions specific sounds that influence my approach to designing this play for the setting of New Orleans. For example, the beginning of the play states “In this part of New Orleans you are practically always just around the corner, or a few doors down the street, from a tinny piano being played with the infatuated fluency of brown fingers. This "Blue Piano" expresses the spirit of the life which goes on here”. (Williams) To take the audience and transport their minds into this new setting, I used the adjective tinny as a starting point. Tinny I feel is like it is coming through a telephone or tin can. From a book written about the film’s score writes “The blue piano’s unbounded permeation of the warm air in William’s production notes for the play’s first scene as corresponding to the French Quarter’s special character”. (Davison 82) To expand, I took that word and applied it to how it would sound on a piano. A piano, which has a metallic tone, is probably in need of tuning often found in bar rooms where jazz is played. This piano underline the scruffy, broken atmosphere of this part of New