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Stellar cast shines in 'Glass Menagerie'
(by Herb Hammer - September 24, 2008)
Stellar cast shines in 'Glass Menagerie'
It's been some time since Tom Wingfield escaped from his cramped St. Louis apartment. He never looked back, but he hasn't been able to escape the sad memories with his shy, limping sister Laura and his overbearing mother, Amanda.
"The Glass Menagerie," as Tom describes it, is a memory play, and Tom, as the narrator, draws us into the life he led and the dreams he dreamed.
The Cleveland Play House has brought this classic Tennessee Williams play to the Bolton Theatre stage. The play is as poetic and wonderful as it must have been 64 years ago, when it first opened in Chicago.
Play House artistic director Michael Bloom directs here and has assembled a stellar cast.
It's the mid-1930s. Amanda, Tom's mother, keeps a picture of her husband out front for all to see. Her husband ran away some time ago. She lives on her own memories as a Southern belle who had many "gentlemen callers." She wants just one for her shy, lonely daughter Laura.
Laura is so distressed that she couldn't bring herself to continue business school. She walked in the park while Amanda believed the school could give Laura a future.
Tom goes to the movies alone each night, if only to stay away from his mother's relentless nagging. Amanda begs Tom to bring someone home for Laura. Maybe someone from the warehouse where Tom works.
Finally, Tom brings his friend Jim home for dinner. Coincidentally, Jim had gone to school with Laura. Even then, he was the boy of her dreams. He called her "Blue Roses."
What appears to be just another hopeless night turns into a possibility. Alison Lani's stunning performance carries this splendid scene. After Laura becomes ill with just the thought of Jim being near her, she lies on the sofa while the others have dinner. Jim wanders into the living room, and finally Laura becomes alive. She tells Jim about her glass collection made up of fragile tiny animals. Jim insists on teaching Laura to dance, and then he kisses her. This is the only happy moment in Tennessee Williams' entire play.
Jim admits he shouldn't have kissed Laura, for he is engaged to someone else and won't be seeing Laura ever again.
Tom leaves, intending to enter the Merchant Marines, while Laura is left with her glass animals, and Amanda, who sells magazine subscriptions on the telephone, is left with nothing.
Michael Bloom's directing shows an affection for the play. He doesn't miss a nuance in this tragic drama.
Well-known actress Linda Purl plays Amanda, who continues to rant and rave through both acts. She has learned to live with failure and only wants her children to succeed. Miss Purl is pure perfection in the role.
Lovely Alison Lani couldn't be better as the shy, frightened Laura. Her every expression, her every move speaks volumes of Laura's tortured life.
Daniel Damon Joyce's Tom is a dreamer who writes poetry and waits for his moment when he can get away. He excels in the role.
And Sorin Brouwers, as Jim, the gentleman caller, gives us an excellent performance.
Robert Mark Morgan's two-level set allows the cast to move from room to room. It is quite an achievement.
Most theatergoers have seen "The Glass Menagerie" at least one time in their life. But the graceful, elegant performance here at the Cleveland Play House is one of a kind.
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