Next up for Playcrafters of Skippack is the long time classic autobiographical tale of famed playwright Tennessee Williams, “The Glass Menagerie.” It won him the New York Drama Critic’s Award in 1945 and was the first successful play for Williams, bringing him out of obscurity before he went on to win numerous awards later for his “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” and “Night of the Iguana.”
But with such a classic history of The Glass Menagerie’s countless revivals and adaptations, there are indeed reasons to see it once more when it begs the question: Why go see it again?
“A lot of people have been asking me (that question),” said Director Kevin Binder.
His answer to that hinges on where you are in your life. Binder saw the play while in college and now he’s older and looks at the play with a different eye. As with any great work or tome, “There’s always something new to grasp onto,” he said.
The four-character, two-act play is dubbed a “memory” play and told narration style by Tom Wingfield (Jeff Hunsicker), who is a frustrated worker at a shoe warehouse and aspires to the more noble shoes of a poet. His mother, Amanda Wingfield (Michele Loor Nicolay), is a faded southern belle deserted by her husband years ago and who is attempting to raise her children, whom she admits she sometimes feels hateful toward. His sister, Laura Wingfield (Carly Fried), has a childhood illness that has left her with both a physical handicap as well as an inferiority complex lending to the creation of her own insular world marked by a collection of glass figurines. Jim O’Connor (Troy Cooper) is the gentleman caller and an old friend of his.
While categorized as a drama, “it’s more of a slice of life,” Binder said, of the two- hour story that contains a little comedy, too.
The play is set in1938 and contains flashbacks as Tom, the protagonist and narrator, shares his recollections of 10 years prior in his family’s dingy St. Louis apartment.
“The set is abstract,” he said of the play that lends to the dream-like memory quality of Tom as he sees things in his mind’s eye. “The window in the dining room is a bit larger than a normal window… the door is half a door… the walls go up into nothingness.”
The poetry in Williams’ work is not lost on anyone with an ear. “There’s poetry to his work, beautiful poetry. Every single word is important.”
With the rhythm of the story a fine balance to acquire, Binder and his crew have found it an interesting journey both on stage as well as while delving into research germane to Williams and the script.
“I’m so privileged to have this cast. They have embraced this play more than I’d ever thought.”
The ending of the work is both sad and hopeful.
Co-Producer: David DeratzianCo-Producer: Joe Welsh
Assistant to the Director/ Stage Manager: Gillian Williams
Set Designer: Scott McMasterLighting Designer: Ryan Kadwill
Board Advisor: Laura Shapella If you go:
Playcrafters presents:The Glass Menagerie
at the Barn2011 Store Rd at Rt. 73
Skippack, PA 19474Performance dates: May 28, 29, 30, June 5, 6, 11, 12, 13 at 8pm;
June 7 at 3 pm Tickets: $17Info: 610-584-4005
www.playcrafters.org