Jessica Lange Shines in 'The Glass Menagerie'

 "The Glass Menagerie" is a play about truth and illusion. Rupert Goold's staging at the Apollo Theatre manages to reveal truth with appropriate subtlety of direction and paints a pleasantly disguised illusion with atmospheric lighting and a quartet of strong performances.  

Tennessee Williams' masterful semi-autobiographical "memory" play set in St. Louis in the depression delves into the lives of a family much like his own - a mother, Amanda, an aggressive woman with flawed memories of her young life as a southern belle; a daughter, Laura, with physical and emotional flaws (a crippled leg and a painfully shy and withdrawn personality); and a son, Tom, a warehouse worker and erstwhile writer, who narrates the play. All three characters are trapped by differing circumstances and are victims of their own illusions. Amanda, abandoned years before by her selfish husband is trapped by her need to provide for her daughter and deludes herself into believing that she was once admired by dozens of "gentlemen callers" and that Laura will one day be "saved" by a male admirer. Laura is trapped by her physical handicap and withdraws into her own "comfort zone" inhabited by her collection of miniature glass animals. And Tom is trapped in a mind-numbingly boring job that stifles his ability to write, so he retreats to the movies and seeks solace in alcohol. After Jim, a "gentleman caller," first coaxes Laura out of her shyness, kisses her, and then leaves her crushed when he tells her he is engaged to be married and will not call again, Tom eventually makes the decision to leave - as he knows that he is the only one of the trio who can break free from the trap.  

Amongst the performers, Ed Stoppard shines as Tom, commanding the audience's attention at every turn, Mark Umbers exudes charm as Jim and Jessica Lange totally inhabits the role of Amanda, presenting us with a complex matriarch who is at times forceful and vitriolic, at times extrovert and frenetic and at other times comically pathetic. In a role that was created by Laurette Taylor, originally played on Broadway by the legendary Helen Hayes and played on the screen by Gertrude Lawrence, Joanne Woodward and Katherine Hepburn, Ms. Lange is a most worthy successor. But overshadowing the evening at the Apollo is Amanda Hale who provides Laura with a perfect blend of delicate charm and pathos.  

As with most of Williams' work, "The Glass Menagerie" is filled with symbolism - not only the glass collection that represents Laura's fragility but also many subtle references in the sub-text to illusionists/magicians which represent Tom's desire to escape his trap without damaging his family. Perhaps the most crucial symbolic references of all are those relating to light - Tom's failure to pay the light bill, Laura metaphorically coming into the light in her scene with Jim, the final plaintive gesture of Laura blowing out the candles, leaving them all in darkness. And this new production of a classic piece of American theatre lights up Shaftesbury Avenue with a warm and tender glow. It is a view no serious lover of theatre should miss.