The Glass Menagerie
Written by Tennessee Williams
Directed by John Langs
Where: Thompson Theater at the Roselle Center for the Arts
(University of Delaware, Newark, DE)
When: Friday, January 28, 2011
While watching the University of Delaware's Resident Ensemble Players/Professional Theater Training Program's production of The Glass Menagerie this evening, I came to the following realization. The success of this wonderful theater program arises from the fact that they recognize that there is a need for a director's vision and an actor's emotions to breathe life into a playwright's words. In and of itself that seems like a pretty obvious statement. However, it's something that doesn't always happen. I've seen theater on Broadway that have lacked both vision and emotion despite the fact that I paid $70 to see them. While there has been one misstep thus far in the REP's 2010-11 season in which I could say the passion and directorial wonder weren't present, this theater troupe is consistently at the top of their game bringing new ideas to the stage and John Langs's The Glass Menagerie is no exception.
It certainly helps that my three favorite REP members share the stage in the production, making up three-quarters of the four-person cast. Michael Gotch and Carine Montbertrand were last seen together in December's witty and charming Private Lives, but here their roles are certainly different. Honestly, I was a little surprised when I saw that Ms. Montbertrand was going to be playing Laura Wingfield, the outwardly fragile (yet perhaps stronger than she lets on) young daughter. Considering both that her most memorable role in the REP was the vicious and vile title character in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and that her comedic turns in various productions have stolen their respective shows, it was a complete and unexpected pleasure to see her tackle the withdrawn and subdued Laura with an almost childlike innocence.
Michael Gotch takes on his role with gusto and makes the difficult character of Tom instantly relatable to the audience. Acting as both the narrator and a character within the "memory" that is being "remembered" in front of us, Gotch has the tricky role of being the conduit that brings the audience into his world, while at the same time portraying a rather cruel guy within that setting. With just the right amount of tenderness around the periphery of his performance, when Gotch's Tom gets frustrated and fired up, the audience recognizes his anger as justified even if it's incredibly hurtful to his family.
And then there's Kathleen Pirkl Tague who has been conspicuously absent in this year's productions with the exception of the wonderful Our Town. Tague is probably my favorite member of the REP thanks to wonderful performances in the hilarious She Stoops to Conquer and the emotionally draining Death of a Salesman. Once again, she doesn't disappoint. As Amanda, the matriarch of the Wingfield clan, she provides both humor (which I didn't get at all when I read this play as part of my 2009 Book a Week Quest) and anguish with her role. To me, what Tague brings to Amanda is the motherly sense that she only wants what is best for her children. Her Amanda is overbearing, but unable to open up the cage and let her young ones escape for fear that they'll never return like her MIA husband who walked out on her sixteen years prior.
[It should be noted that PTTP actor Erik Mathew was also quite good as the gentleman caller who comes to visit the Wingfield clan, but this "review" is getting to be too long already for a detailed description.]
Ultimately, my biggest problem with the play is one that I felt when I read it two years ago -- some of the metaphors are way too obvious for my tastes (and I usually like my metaphors obvious and in the open). The notion of Laura being just as breakable as her prized glass horses or of the children being the trapped animals of the menagerie or the irony of the last name "Wingfield" considering Tom's desire to fly away from the family all seem too easy. Nonetheless, my perceived problems with Tennessee Williams's words weren't an issue within the production.
And what a production it is. Director John Langs has thrown out the seemingly odd "projections" that appeared so prevalent in Williams's original script, opting instead for the always impressive REP design team to aid Williams's words. When the curtain lifts on the "picturesque" set by scenic designer Junghyun Georgia Lee, I was sold on the production immediately (I'll say no more except that the opening image was kind of breathtaking thanks to Langs's ingenious staging amidst Lee's set). I also don't know if the lighting has been any better in a REP production. William Browning is the company's go-to guy for lighting and he somehow manages to get the illumination to add to the emotional impact of the tale moreso than I've seen in most plays. Director Lang admits in a video interview on the REP's blog that set design, lighting design, and sound design are characters, too, and there's a moment at the end of the play in which those three elements combined with the acting gave me chills.
As the goosebumps formed on my arms from the provocative final moments, I was reminded as I stated above that beyond the great acting, one of the main reasons to love the REP is that the troupe recognizes the importance of having a creative director lead their productions. From the fantastical A Midsummer Night's Dream to the ingenious She Stoops to Conquer to the one-man show I Am My Own Wife, the REP knows that in order to provide a good "stage show," a show must be properly staged. Keep up the good work, REP. [Now if only you'd provide some "press" photos of the play (as you did in previous seasons) so I could promote it to my tens of Delaware readers...]
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