The
Glass Menagerie is a play written by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944.
It is a four character play that heavily revolves around three of the
characters who are family members. The family has a mother, Amanda Wingfield, a
son, Tom Wingfield and a daughter, Laura Wingfield. There is significant
turmoil within the family as they wonder how to support themselves without the
father around. Tom is also the narrator throughout the play and the play
revolves around Tom’s lack of desire to provide well for his family. Tom would
constantly take trips to the “movies” where he would actually be doing
something he is not supposed to be doing. Throughout the play, Amanda wants
Laura to find a guy with a decent paying job so they can get married and he can
help the struggling family. Laura is an extremely shy girl who dropped out of
her college business course and is constantly spending time with her glass
menagerie. Later on in the play Jim O’Connor, a friend of Tom’s and an
acquaintance of Laura enters. Amanda desperately wants Laura and Jim to get
married, but it turns out that Jim is already engaged. Amanda is heartbroken
and at the very end Tom announces that he will be leaving, following in his
father’s footsteps. Trinity Repertory Company put on a production of The Glass
Menagerie on March 11th 2015. The production was extremely unique and many
different things caught my attention.
When
you first set foot in the theater you will see an elevated stage with no
curtain covering backstage. The set continues in front of and behind the stage
with many props scattered all over the place. At the start of the play the
audience could see a couple of stage managers operating technical things in the
play, but then a curtain was used to block a visual of them. This was instantly
confusing as to whether or not they wanted us to see the stage managers or not.
Although this was confusing I enjoyed how the stage managers would come out and
help with props or costumes for the characters. This shows that they are not
trying to recreate a parallel universe, but just let the people know that they
should just enjoy the acting. This adds to the fact that this production was
more presentational than representational meaning the company was not trying to
create an absolutely realistic set. The more presentational style of the
production ultimately helped it out.
Some
of the directorial choices from Brian Mertes made the production less
effective. There would be moments in the play that just did not make sense such
as Tom having to wear red nail polish as well as put on makeup at the beginning
of the second act. That choice was very unnecessary and would have benefited
the play if it was not there. Another thing that really bothered me during the
performance were the multiple things going on stage at once. An example of this
was when Tom and Amanda were having a conversation and Laura was in the back
studio singing. Another time was when Tom and Amanda were talking again and
Laura was on the lower level looking at her glass menagerie and Jim was sitting
on a couch at the very back of the stage reading a book. This caused me to look
in multiple places during the scene and lose focus on the point of the scene.
Mertes brought very unique ideas to the production, but they definitely did not
do the show justice.
Lastly
the best part of the production was easily the actors. Anne Scurria brought a
very fun and energize quality to the role of Amanda which made her character
very interesting. Mia Ellis did a nice job carrying a seriousness to the role
of Laura even during outrageous situations for example when she could not answer
the door. Dennis Kozze made his presence known late in the show with many
comedic lines as Jim O’Connor. Lastly Brian McEleny stole the show with his
historical portrayal of Tom. He took on such a ridiculous role with seriousness
which made his performance that much more entertaining. Although I did not
enjoy when he put on makeup, I understand that it was more of a directorial
choice than his own. The actors really did help keep this production afloat.
If
you are a person who is willing to work extra hard to comprehend the play then
I recommend going, but if not do not waste your time because there are many
choices in the production that are very confusing and take away from the
meaning of the play.
This was interesting because I have a different opinion about the stage managers. I thought that letting the audience see the stage managers bringing in the props was informal and unprofessional. I agree that there was too much going on at once and became too overwhelming as well as it was hard to focus on the main aspect to the scene. And I also agree with the acting. The actors were absolutely amazing and improved the play.
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