BWW Reviews: THE GLASS MENAGERIE at The Gamm Theatre

If I were allowed only one word to review The Gamm's current production of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, it would be "impressive".

Williams' story is revolves around a family who briefly tasted middle-class America only to be shuttled into 'working poor' when abandoned by their father/husband.  The family dynamics are shifting as the children, Tom (Marc Dante Mancini) and Laura (Diana Buirski) explore adulthood with varying degrees of success.  It becomes clear that it will take all three remaining family members functioning on all cylinders for the family to claw back up to middle-class.  In this family, at this time, that is not possible.

If we assume that any of the play is autobiographical, Williams himself is represented by Tom, a dreamy young poet who is growing bitter and impatient as he clocks his time doing menial work at the warehouse. While he longs for escape and adventure (and love and affection?) he is compelled to do his part against the ever-present specter of poverty that threatens to destroy the family.

Tom's sister Laura is an emotionally stunted young woman whose wrestles with mental health issues including a crippling social anxiety.  Un-addressed, these issues have left Laura a virtual prisoner in the family's tenement apartment in downtown St. Louis.  To keep her company, Laura keeps returning to the old Victrola and the phonograph records their father left behind.  Her greatest joy is a collection of small glass animals, each representing a tiny piece of beauty in an otherwise dreary life.

Tom and Laura's mother, Amanda, was raised in the Mississippi delta, with all of the trappings of fine southern breeding.  As she faces her own mortality, Amanda is obsessed with making sure that someone, be it Tom or, hopefully a husband, will look after Laura.  She will do everything necessary to make sure that Laura marries well; an opportunity that Amanda never had.

All of those hopes and dreams are pinned on the person of Jim, the first and only gentleman caller to call on Laura.  Jim, Tom and Laura had all been acquainted in high school and Jim and Tom work together at the shoe warehouse.  He has been invited to dinner, unaware that he is being 'set up' with his friend's sister.

The family’s dreams for escape, for love, for stability are no more likely to happen than a light bulb burning brightly without electricity.

As young Tom, Marc Dante Mancini is enchanting and gives physical representation to wanderlust and the search for our true self.  The fragile veneer of normality that Tom has created is in constant threat of crumbling.  Mancini conveys Tom’s emotional stress at perfect range and with stunning success.

In this production, the play is narrated by Tom as an old man. It is an interpretation that, in my opinion, improves on the original. Sam Babbitt gives a marvelously unhurried performance. Older Tom has, after a lifetime, come to terms with his family and is a benevolent guide as we travel through his own memories.

As Amanda, a woman whose life has been shaped by shame, Wendy Overly is fearless.  Alternating between denial and despair, Overly gives the audience an opportunity to want the best for this character. In her performance Overly exposes the soft underbelly of compassion for her children that has created the armor of caring about “what other people think”.

Director Fred Sullivan, Jr. and Diana Buirski returned intelligence to the character of Laura.  This Laura, while dealing with undiagnosed mental health issues and physical limitations isn’t cognitively impaired. The focus of the production is also shifted a bit off of Laura.  These interpretations, along with Buirski’s rich performance keep the audience engaged, instead of writing the character off as one-note.

Sullivan has underlined the strong parallels between Amanda, the unfulfilled archetype mother and Jim the gentleman caller who in high school was thought most likely to succeed and now works at a warehouse. The two characters each have to consistently negotiate reality with their own high expectations. Kelby T. Akin is perfectly cast as Jim and gives a fine performance in the role.

The set design, in its succinct efficiency, with its threadbare furnishings and steel fire escapes, almost remove the play from the Midwest and nestle it in Savannah or New Orleans.

Tennessee Williams excels at exploring how people cope in the prisons of their own making and what finally makes them submit to their reality or walk away.

Sullivan's impeccable timing is clearly evident and he has mined the drama for comedy, which creates a cycle of tension and release for the audience. He has extracted performances from the cast that are equally as complex and beautiful as the characters they play.  For a Tennessee Williams play, that is...impressive. 

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The Glass Menagerie plays at the Gamm Theatre in Pawtucket through April 4, 2010.  Tickets range from $24 -$40 and can be purchased by calling the Box Office at (401) 723-4266 or by visiting www.gammtheatre.org.

Photo: Diana Buirski as Laura and Wendy Overly as Amanda (in background)

Photo by Peter Goldberg, courtesy of The Gamm Theatre

 

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