The Student Room Group
Reply 1
Plastic theatre is the method williams employs to heighten awareness of certain events or characterisations. Plastic theatre is the use of props or staging to impress upon the audience more abstract ideas. It is often very blatent and seems unrealistic, but this just adds to the drama of the scene. For instance, an audience watching the play only have a few seconds to pick up on metaphorical connections, whereas whilst reading the play you can examine Williams' stage directions in detail. An example of Plastic Theatre is when in the rape scene Williams' stage directions say that the walls of the flat "have become transparent" symbolising the outside, real and sordid world encroaching on Blanche's imaginary world where she must be shielded from reality. Another example of this is when the "lurid reflections" and "inhuman voices" fill Blanche's imagination, however, in order for the audience to fully apprecciate Blanche's state of mind, we must also be privy to these noises.

Basically in a sentence, Plastic Theatre, is the use of props, noises and/or stage directions to convey a blatent parallel with the characters states of mind on stage.

Hope this helps! What other texts are you doing? Im doing Wuthering Heights and Paradise Lost. Do you know Streetcar in lots of detail...? plus quotes etc...? xx