Weston Playhouse Theatre Company's THE GLASS MENAGERIE Begins 8/27

Beginning August 27, Weston Playhouse Theatre Company presents Tennessee Williams' timeless masterpiece, The Glass Menagerie. The final production of an exciting summer lineup, Williams' iconic work also launches Weston's 5-year American Masters series, an initiative dedicated to bringing classics of American drama to Weston's stage with artists of national stature.

As touching and relevant today as when first created, the story itself is a memory play, narrated by the restless son of an aging Southern belle. It tells the tales of a family's schemes to find a husband for Laura, the painfully shy daughter. Weston's staging, produced in concert with Florida's Gulfshore Playhouse, features a remarkable cast and an all-star creative team directed by Gulfshore's founder and Artistic Director Kristen Coury. Coury's career has brought her from Walt Disney Theatrical to Andrew Lloyd Webber to London's English Shakespeare Company, and finally, to Gulfshore, where she's directed nearly all of the productions to date.

Amy Van Nostrand stars as the indomitable Amanda Wingfield. With significant stage and screen credits, including appearances both on and Off Broadway, at Trinity Rep (8 seasons), and at the Guthrie, Huntington, Shakespeare Theatre, and Williamstown Theatre Festivals, Van Nostrand is also a member of the Weston Company. Regional audiences will recall her performance opposite Christopher Lloyd in Weston's Death of a Salesman (2010). She's joined in the cast by Eric Gilde, Andrea Lynn Green, and Ben Jacoby. Gilde's resume includes major regional productions of Hamlet, The History Boys, and Our Town, among others. He stars as the narrator and aspiring poet Tom, while Green (New York's Playwrights Horizons, Hartford Stage, and Dallas Theatre Center) plays Laura, his fragile sister. Ben Jacoby (Phantom of the Opera National Tour, Milwaukee Rep, Utah Shakespeare Festival) rounds out the cast as the Gentleman Caller.

Weston's creative team includes Scenic Designer Daniel Conway, Lighting Designer Jiyoun Chang, Costume Designer Kirche Leigh Zeile, and Composer/Sound Designer Christopher Colucci. The Production Stage Manager is Martin Lechner.

The Weston Company is proud to inaugurate its American Masters series with Williams' work, one of the finest plays in the American canon. Funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, each America Masters production includes daytime school performances and an appearance at Burlington's Flynn Center, allowing the company to reach a statewide audience. Following its Weston run, The Glass Menagerie travels north to the Flynn for an evening in mid-September, then south to Gulfshore Playhouse for a final run on Director Coury's home turf in Naples, Florida.

Sponsored in part by the Vermont Country Store, The Glass Menagerie runs August 27 - September 5 at the Weston Playhouse (12 Park Street in Weston.) Running two hours and thirty minutes including intermission, curtain times are Tues - Sat at 7:30 pm, Wed and Sat at 2 pm, and Sun at 3 pm. Tickets begin at just $25 and can be purchased by calling 802-824-5288 or by visiting westonplayhouse.org.