“The Glass Menagerie” shines at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre
Memory is an incredibly curious aspect of human nature, and one of the first pioneers into the theatre art of memory is none other than Tennessee Williams. If you’ve ever wanted a chance to experience the magic of memory on stage, then you definitely don’t want to miss the premiere of Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie” at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre starting this weekend.
“The Glass Menagerie” was published in 1944, and it is centered on the retelling of the life of protagonist and narrator Tom, as told by his mother and sister. Much of the play is focused on Tom’s desire to escape his mundane life; however, it also sheds light on the guilt he feels for this desire, as his father abandoned the family years earlier.
In addition, the play is also focused on a dinner date at the family’s apartment, in which Tom’s mother hopes a gentleman caller will finally come for his bashful sister.
The Theatre Centre’s performance of “The Glass Menagerie” is directed by Todd Olson, Executive Director at the Theatre Centre. It is based on the original script, which was published in 1944 before the opening performance in Chicago and later Broadway. The Theatre Centre’s cast started rehearsals in late January, and Olson said they have been extremely dedicated to the upcoming performance.
“I think these actors are working so hard, and you know, anytime you get a chance to work with Tennessee Williams, it’s a special occasion,” explained Olson. “It’s a known story; it’s known to audiences, it’s known to stage artists, so I think we’re also trying to kind of wrestle with what have become kind of Tennessee Williams’ stereotypes. We want to make them new and fresh to us.”
Olson has spent many years working on professional theatre in both Florida and Tennessee, but this is his first time directing at the Theatre Centre after taking over the role of Executive Director last April. Olson explained that working in community theatre is a lot different, but he noted that everything in the discipline and style of the actors and actresses is professional, which is why he’s really looking forward to opening night.
The original script for “The Glass Menagerie” was 90 pages long, and Olson said that the last Broadway revivals were pushing two hours without an intermission. However, the Theatre Centre’s production will have an intermission because Olson feels that modern audiences need that.
“There are about 60 pages, the intermission, and then 30 pages. It’s sort of misshapen a little bit. It feels very Jacobian because so much of the dramatic trajectory of this is that we’re waiting for the gentleman caller to come, and he finally comes, we sit down and have a dinner, and then it’s intermission,” explained Olson. “But you don’t know, my God, what’s going to happen next. I just think contemporary audiences need a break.”
A defining aspect of “The Glass Menagerie” is the way in which Williams wanted to use slides and projections to really bring the performance to life. While Olson said that the Theatre Centre’s performance is not going to include every single slide and projection found in the acting version of “The Glass Menagerie”, there are definitely going to be a lot of aspects of the performance that will be multimedia.
“There are over 44 notations of slides and different projections that are sort of influenced by German expressionism of the time,” said Olson. “And Tennessee Williams, despite being in that vein of American lyric realism, you know, he really was an experimenter of sorts.”
The Theatre Centre’s cast for the production includes five cast members: young Tom, older Tom, the mother, the sister, and the gentleman caller. Traditionally, “The Glass Menagerie” only has four cast members, with only one actor portraying Tom, but Olson thought it would make for a unique experience to have older Tom, portrayed by Rob Inman, narrating the show and younger Tom, played by Christian Smith, interacting with the rest of the cast members.
“Christian plays the scenes that are in 1937, and when we step out of that, there are direct addresses to the audience, so Rob does the scenes that are direct addresses to the audience, as if he’s been carrying the burden and the guilt of having abandoned his family for 40 years,” Olson explained. “And he has to keep playing out the scene in his life, the story, to absolve himself of the guilt of abandoning his family just like his father abandoned his family.”
“The Glass Menagerie” opens tomorrow night at 8 p.m. and will be performed with both evening and Sunday matinee shows from March 9 to March 25. If you’ve ever wanted an opportunity to see the original “memory play,” a term Williams coined himself, then look no further than the CTC’s production of “The Glass Menagerie.”