The Glass Menagerie at South Puget Sound Community College

by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS

Tennessee Williams’ classic drama “The Glass Menagerie” is coming to South Puget Sound Community College in March, to be presented by student actors and directed by Lauren Love.

It is the tragic story of Amanda Wingfield — who lives in poverty in a dingy St. Louis apartment with her son, Tom, who drinks to excess, and her daughter, Laura, who is crippled and lonely — and what happens when Tom invites a friend home for dinner and Amanda sees the friend as husband material for Laura.

“Amanda strives to give meaning and direction to her life and the lives of her children,” Love said, “though her methods are ineffective and irritating. Tom is driven nearly to distraction by his mother’s nagging and seeks escape in alcohol and the world of the movies. Laura also lives in her illusions, intensified by her mother’s anxiety to see her married.”

“I considered this classic play initially to introduce our students, and perhaps reintroduce our audience, to Williams’ extraordinary poetic use of the dramatic form,” Love said. “I also felt our students were ready to take on the challenge of such an intellectually and emotionally complex play. Further, as I reread the play, I was authentically moved by its poignancy. Its power to generate a human longing for freedom, adventure, creativity, energy, innovation, cultural depth and human connection has reminded me of the universal poignancy of its themes. ‘The Glass Menagerie’ is a true classic, owing to its layers of symbolism, its rich language and emotional profundity.”

“The Glass Menagerie” is thought to be an autobiographical but certainly fictionalized play. It premiered in 1944 and won the coveted New York Drama Critics Circle Award in1945. Kimberlee Wolfson plays Amanda, Ethan Grabowski plays Tom, Sydney Keith plays Laura, and Zacary Bache plays the role of the dinner guest, Jim O’Connor.

WHAT
The Glass Menagerie

WHERE
Kenneth J. Minnaert Center Black Box
South Puget Sound Community College, 2011 Mottman Rd. SW

WHEN
7 p.m. March 1

HOW MUCH
$12

LEARN MORE
360-753-8586 | The Washington Center for the Performing Arts

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