The American theater scene has few plays that will be around for another 100 years. There are a lot of good plays, don’t get me wrong. But they are largely so tied to their place or time that the scripts might be a bit dated and the characters out of step with the modern times of the future to seem relevant to those audiences. I could be wrong, but history has proven that thought true more often than not. There is a reason theaters don’t stage shows like My American Cousin anymore.



But anyway, there are exceptions. Streetcar Named Desire is one of those shows. Its setting might seem dated, but the complex and rich characters will live on in their relevancy for generations to come.



The show deals with the culture clash between two symbolic characters, Blanche DuBois, a pretentious, fading relic kept in her ways of the Old South, and Stanley Kowalski, a rising member of the industrial, urban immigrant class that replaced it.

The show is a classic in every sense of the word and is a must for anyone interested in calling themselves lovers of theater. References to it and its characters come up in pop culture all the time. And it is playing in Puget Sound.



Intiman Theater is taking a crack at the classic depiction of faded visions of grandeur further dimmed by alcohol and personal demons in an apartment in New Orleans.



DuBois (played by Juilliard trained and Broadway credited Angela Pierce) finds herself in the Big Easy after she is fired from her teaching job for sleeping with one of her students. She moves in with her sister until she can find her way back to her feet. Her fragile mind can only handle so much, so she finds herself retreating into her own fantasy world of what she wishes was life, not life as it is.



This Tennessee Williams work is filled with complex characters, sexual tension and poetic language. Jonno Roberts plays Stanley Kowalski, with Chelsey Rives as Stella and Tim True as Mitch. The ensemble includes Colin L. Byrne, Jose J. Gonzales, Timothy Hyland, Charles Leggett, Rebecca Meneses, Shelley Reynolds and Khatt Taylor, with original music composed by Jose J. Gonzales and performed by members of the company.

Grease

For a show much different, but still a classic in its own right, theatergoers can see Grease at Tacoma Musical Playhouse. The rock and roll version of the classic Romeo and Juliet spins the life of students at the fictional Rydell High School as they return to school after their days of summer loving on the local beaches with people they thought they would never see again. Worlds collide when they end up attending the same school. Toss in a rocking score, black jackets, talk of fast cars matched by faster girls and slicked back, duck butt haircuts, and that is Grease. The year is 1959, and all is right with the world as long as you have a flashy car and tight jeans.



[Intiman Playhouse, A Streetcar Named Desire, through Aug. 2, $10-$48, 201 Mercer St., Seattle. 206.269.1900]



[Tacoma Musical Playhouse, Grease, through Aug. 3, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, $12-$23, 7116 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.565.6867]