THE GLASS MENAGERIE

Pacific Alliance Stage Company presents : THE GLASS MENAGERIE by Tennessee Williams; Directed by Hector Correa. Spreckels Performing Arts Center, 5409 Snyder Lane, Rohnert Park, CA 94928, 707/588-3400 or www.spreckelsonline.com. September 18 – October 12, 2008

A DIFFERENT TAKE ON A CLASSIC
In the 63 years since its astounding success on Broadway, that established Tennessee Williams as a great new voice in American drama and Laurette Taylor gave Amanda Wingfield an almost mythical performance which became the standard to which every other actress who undertook the role would be compared. Helen Hayes, Jessica Tandy, Katherine Hepburn and Joan Woodward took up challenge and, according to reviews, were superb. Each invested Amanda with the Southern gentility written into the script. Amanda, as the main character in THE GLASS MENAGERIE, requires a strong domineering personality that has caused her husband to abandon her and alienates her son Tom and daughter Laura. Tara Blau creates a harsher, less genteel Amanda that matches a voluble, hardly poetic and at times disagreeable Tom. It is difficult to empathize with either character. On the other hand, director Correa has fashioned a pas de deux for Laura and the Gentleman Caller that Denise Elia and Ian McDavid perform almost brilliantly. It is the highlight of the play.

“The Glass Menagerie” is an autobiographical/memory play unfolding during the depression of the 30s. In the opening monolog Tom (nee Tennessee): “I am the narrator of the play, and also a character in it. The other characters are my mother, Amanda, my sister, Laura, and a gentleman caller who appears in the final scene.” He goes on to speak of a “fifth” character, his father, who appears only as an enlarged photo on the wall. He left 16 years ago. “He was a telephone man who fell in love with long distance. . . The last we heard of him was a . . . postcard from Mazatlan. . . containing a message of two words: “Hello - Goodbye!”

Tom (Justin Devine), as Tennessee Williams was, is now the bread winner bringing home $65 a month from his stifling job in a shoe factory warehouse where he writes poetry on shoe boxes. His greatest desire is to leave and become a writer. He is continually pressed by his mother to find a “gentleman caller” as a prospect of marriage for Laura.

Laura (Denise Elia), his sister, is physically and mentally crippled, described by her mother as “extremely shy.” She has created her own memory world with a collection of glass animals that she invests with human attributes along with old music records and paper files, the most significant of which is her High School Year Book. The gentleman caller, Tom O’Connor (Ian McDavid) has memories of his glory days in high school. Memories indelibly etched in Laura’s mind. Amanda, between correcting Tom’s eating habits, his posture and berating his frequent trips to the movies, has memories of glory days on a Southern plantation and the night she had 17 gentlemen callers.

The plot is that simple with well defined characters; their interaction, poetic language and innovative construction Williams’ play a classic. Tennessee Williams who is a master at creating women characters has created a “Gentleman Caller for the ages.” Ian McDavid is superb in the part, making every gesture, every nuance believable. His ability to bring Laura out of her imaginary world into the real world, if only for a relative instant, was heart rendering. Denise Elia’s expressive face shows the hurt within and radiates when kissed by Jim. It is almost enough to compensate for Justin Levine’s one-dimensional delivery that is about 15 decibels above normal speech.

A fire escape where Tom escapes the incessant harping of Amanda, is a pivotal part of Williams’ stage description. Eddy Hansen’s great set design and lighting are enhanced by Andrew Renquist’s sound design.
Running time under 2 hours with intermission.
Courtesy of TheatreWorld Internet Magazine