Tennessee William’s The Glass Menagerie is a play about growing up, faded dreams, hope, hurt and life. Mask and Bauble’s workshop production, which runs through Sunday, captures the intimacy of this personal story in a beautifully acted, well thought-out production. It does not attempt to be flashy or overly clever. The play is, instead, quiet and controlled, full of detail and nuance.
The play centers on a family consisting of a faded Southern belle named Amanda (Nancy Stewart, COL ’09), her son Tom (Sean Sullinger, MSB ‘10), a boy who longs to have adventures but feels he cannot leave his family, and daughter Laura (Rachel Caywood, COL ‘10), who is crippled and shy to the point of being unable to function socially. In the final scenes, Jim (Eddie Walsh, COL ‘10), a colleague of Tom’s, comes for dinner and stirs things up. These characters argue, discuss and plan for the future, all the while wondering how they will survive their lives.
As a workshop production, the sets, lighting and props are minimal but effective, keeping the attention on the acting. The play is executed as theater in the round with the audience sitting on all four sides of the action. It keeps the action engaging, though the actors’ constant movement intended to play to all four sides can be distracting. The costumes are simple but spot on, and the lighting is subtle in true Williams’ fashion, highlighting characters where appropriate and marking changes in mood. Between many scenes, Allison Curran (COL ‘08) sings a brief snatch of a song appropriate to the action and time period, providing a wonderful atmosphere and mood.
Glass Menagerie places such a great focus on acting that it demand the players be great. This is where the production’s true worth lies. The role of Amanda Wingfield is a notoriously difficult part, but once Stewart warms up to it and hits some of the really dramatic moments, her performance shines, bringing a level of pathos and sympathy to a difficult character. She does as good a job as any college student can playing a faded matron in all her ruined glory, and, according to my Mississippi friend I brought for authenticity, she nails the Southerness in her character.
Sean Sullinger shows the belligerence of Tom’s character but gives us no indication as to why Tom is staying with his family at all, failing to adequately vary his emotions. He does, however, capture the restless desperation of his character and is comfortable enough onstage to deliver the narrator’s monologues in a fine style.
Rachel Caywood’s portrayal of Laura is reason enough to see this play. She completely inhabits her character, communicating more pain and bewilderment with one jerk of her foot than she could with endless soliloquies. Every thing about her—from her delivery to her eyes—shows insight into the painfully shy girl. She helps the audience understand and sympathize with this warped, sad person, which only makes Laura’s troubles all the more heart wrenching.
Eddie Walsh is perfect for his part as Jim, the ordinary, friendly, typical American man with dreams and ambitions. His interactions with all the other characters are believable and dramatic.
The chemistry between all the actors is incredible; they all inhabit the same world and play off each other with impressive grace. Directors Hunter Styles (COL ‘08) and Lee Catherine Booker (COL ‘09) should be applauded for conjuring up this realistic interaction and understanding between characters.
Glass Menagerie contains flashes of brilliance while maintaining a definite mood and tone. It casts a spell, causing viewers to forget that they watching a play at all. A small, unassuming show, Glass Menagerie excels in what it does, and is a totally worthwhile production.
Glass Menagerie runs from Nov. 30th to Dec. 2nd at 8 p.m., Dec. 3rd and 4th in Poulton Hall, Stage 3.
