Kazan, Elia and Richard Schechner and Theodore Hoffman. “Look, There’s the American    Theater.” The Tulane Drama Review, 9.2 (Winter, 1964): 61-83. The MIT Press. University of Pennsylvania Library, Philadelphia. 7 April 2008. <http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017/6965/2>.

This interview of Elia Kazan is a privileged glimpse into the mind of the director of A Streetcar Named Desire. Blunt and pragmatic, he answers The Tulane Review’s questions about his production of Arthur Miller’s play, After the Fall, with a philosophical outlook expressed by brusque language. Though Kazan is a film director, this article gives readers an opportunity to understand Kazan’s priorities as a theatre director, which is significant as Streetcar was originally a play. Though Kazan shuns his title as “America’s foremost director” and refuses to be associated with Hollywood’s realism, a softer side is revealed once he discusses the playwrights whom he admires most and his objectives when it comes to putting a play on stage at Lincoln Center. Kazan says, “I believe in passionate objectivity; but I also believe in passionate subjectivity.” It is this reason why he admires “experimental” authors such as Arthur Miller: “whether you like him or not, [he] is not trying to lie about himself.”
    Perhaps this was the same reason why Kazan was willing to turn Williams’ play into a film. Though Kazan never comments on his production of Streetcar directly, he does criticize American culture that Williams so blatantly rebels against: “In America, you’re either a success or you’re a failure... There’s a thing called progress, which isn’t understood in this country.” It is clear that Kazan has no issues when it comes to bringing something controversial to the center of a stage, andhis enthusiasm for this process reveals just how much time and thought he puts in to each of his productions. He thoroughly discusses his “Method” techniques when it comes to his actors, explaining the importance of improvisation, sense memory, the emotional recall, and the “Private Moment” all in one work. It is this transformation of actor to character that Kazan seems to enjoy most: “What our stage does is put a strong light on a person, on the inner life, the feelings of a person. They become monumental things... They’re out there living right in your midst.” Perhaps this is why Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh were so acclaimed for their abilities to portray Stanley and Blanche; under Kazan’s direction, it seems as though any character can come to life.
 

Kaplan, Donald M. “Homosexuality and American Theatre: A Psychoanalytic Comment.” The    Tulane Drama Review, 9.3 (Spring, 1965): 25-55. The MIT Press. University of Pennsylvania Library, Philadelphia. 7 April 2008. <http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017/6965/2>.

 In this article, Kaplan comments on the increased display of homosexuality in American theater, and tries to explain why this change had come about by 1965. It is important to note that, as taboo as homosexuality may be today, in the 1960’s dialogue regarding the subject was simply unmentionable. Not half as much research on the “true” factors for a homosexual being had been conducted, while the limitations on a homosexual’s “mentality and creative vision” were far more pervasive. Nevertheless, Kaplan opens his discussion with a quote straight from Elia Kazan (an artist who’s sexuality, he believes, is “questionable): “The whole concept is rather thrilling, the realization of a dream. In the few days that we have been working together I have had more fun than I have had in years.” This “realization,” Kaplan states, is the transformation of a homosexual’s dreams into reality—a reality that is becoming more and more popular in modern America, he believes. Unfortunately, Kaplan quickly seems to contradict this “modern” notion by defending homosexuals through the “verified” results of outdated ink-blot tests; nevertheless, he quickly goes on to discuss both scientific and social beliefs regarding the notion of sexuality.
    Tennessee Williams was one of these homosexual artists whose dreams have been realized, and while the Streetcar film has toned down many of its intended homosexual undertones, the original version is almost blatant in its discussion of homosexuality. Kaplan criticizes the play for its “Me-Tarzan-You-Jane” sexuality when it comes to Stanley’s relationship with both Stella and Blanche, citing the unrefined terms “making out” and “getting those colored lights going on” as crude representations of heterosexual relationships. However, Blanche’s one true love happened to be gay. This “nervous, tender, uncertain boy” who wrote poetry is sympathetically portrayed, and is arguably a pivotal character in Streetcar’s synopsis. This fact proves Kaplan’s point that homosexual “rebellion against instinctual deprivation” is rapidly spreading in both American theater and cinema. It also sheds light on the changing face of what American authors were willing to write and what American audiences were willing to see.