Glass Menagerie - Chicago July 2013 part 2

Second day in Chicago, second play on the menu was Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, performed by a visiting company (Mary Arrchie Theatre Co.) at Theater Wit.

According to my companions of the evening, this was a very special interpretation of this work. I'd never seen a production of Glass Menagerie before so I'll have to take their word for it and can only judge what I saw on stage that night.

And what I saw was good!  

The venue seemed cut out for the general atmosphere the set exuded, dark, desperate, but beautiful and appealing at the same time, perfectly fitting for the play we were about to see.

Amanda (Maggie Cain) and Laura (Joanne Dubach)

The concept of having a narrator that is also a character is an interesting one, the playwright can give us a lot of information that would take too much time to act out, unless he was aiming for a 3 hr play (or longer). As it is Glass Menagerie is not a short play but it has much to say so this concept really works for it. 

I had not seen or read this play before, which makes it a different kind of experience than seeing a play when you are familiar with the story. To me the cast did a great job in making me care for each one of them, changing my alliance a few times throughout the play I think I landed on Amanda as the one that 'owned' the play.

Jim 'the gentleman caller' (Walter Briggs)
 and Laura (Joanne Dubach)

This play is all about memories, good, idealized ones, bad ones where time probably colored them in negatively, a play about (dashed) hopes and desperation, about stepping into footsteps where you didn't want to, about creating your own world from where there is no tangible escape left.

Tom (Hans Fleischmann)

Tom, as the narrator and protagonist seems a free spirit, not bound by society's conventions, going about life half just to survive and half dreaming about how he could be free to do as he wants. 

In the end Tom has escaped... but has not found his freedom... and by escaping he doomed Amanda and Laura even more to their fates...  the only one that comes out of this play unscathed is 'the gentleman caller'  and even he may be worse off than he was. At least this is what I took away from this production.

The actor playing Tom, the narrator and protagonist of this play also took on the job of director. 

Brave man... job well done!

After the play, my companions and I had a nice discussion about whose play this is... is it Tom's, or Laura's? or even Amanda's ? (nobody seemed to be inclined to think it was 'the gentleman caller's' play).

We had 4 people in the group, and 3 different opinions... and on the way back home an ongoing discussion about the meaning of the 'blow your candles out'. Now that marks a great theater evening and an excellent performance...

Tom (Hans Fleischmann)

Tom (Hans Fleischmann)

from the official website:

The Glass Menagerie focuses on a man obsessed with regrets from his past. Living on the streets, he navigates an audience through the gritty back-alleys of his imagination. Truth and delusion collide in this re-imagining of Tennessee Williams’ classic memory play. The Glass Menageriebrings LA-based, Jeff Award winning ensemble member Hans Fleischmann back to Mary-Arrchie for this beautiful, heart wrenching tale. 

Review blurbs:

“If the best-of-the-year lists were not already signed, sealed and delivered, I’d be ripping them into shreds. Fleischmann’s production...is not to be missed.” - Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune (★★★★)

“The dark despair with twinkling beauty will linger with you long after you leave the theatre. THE GLASS MENAGERIE is handcrafted and one-of-a-kind. This innovative production is a must see!” - Katy Walsh, Chicago Now

“...you’ve probably never experienced Tennessee Williams’s ubiquitous drama like this.” - Oliver Sava, TimeOut Chicago

Running Time: 2 hours 20 minutes with intermission