The Glass Menagerie
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The Glass Menagerie is a play by Tennessee Williams that was originally written as a screenplay for MGM, to whom Williams was contracted. The play premiered in Chicago in 1944, and in 1945 won the prestigious New York Drama Critics Circle Award. The Glass Menagerie was Williams' first successful play; he went on to become one of America's most highly regarded playwrights. The Glass Menagerie is accounted by many to be a biographical play about Williams' life, the characters and story mimicking his own more closely than any of his other works. Williams (whose real name is Thomas) would be Tom, his Mother, Amanda, and his sickly and disturbed sister Rose would be Laura (whose nickname in the play is "Blue Roses").[citation needed]
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[edit] Characters
Persons represented:
- Amanda Wingfield, the old overbearing single mother who tries to live vicariously through her children. Her devotion to her children has made her ignorant to their wants and needs.
- Laura Wingfield, Amanda's daughter. She is slightly crippled and has an extra-sensitive mental condition.
- Tom Wingfield, Amanda's son, the protagonist. He aspires to be a writer but feels both obligated towards and burdened by his family.
- Jim O'Connor, a friend of Tom and Laura in high school. He is invited over to the Wingfield's house for dinner with the intent of being Laura's first gentleman caller. He seems like a dream come true for the Wingfields.
[edit] Plot Summary
The play is introduced to the audience by Tom as a memory play, based on his recollection. Amanda's husband left the family long ago, and she remains stuck in the past. Tom works in a factory, doing his best to support his family. Amanda is obsessed with finding a suitor for Laura, who spends most of her time with her glass collection. Tom eventually brings Jim home for dinner at the insistence of his mother, who hopes Jim will be the long-awaited suitor for Laura. Laura realizes that Jim is the man she loved in high school and has thought of ever since. He dashes her hopes, telling her that he is already engaged, and then leaves. Tom leaves too, and never returns to see his family again.
[edit] Stage productions
Original productions, 1944-45
The Glass Menagerie was actually reworked material from one of Williams' short stories, "Portrait of a Girl in Glass". The play was first produced by Eddie Dowling and Louis J. Singer at the Civic Theatre in Chicago, on December 26, 1944. It premiered on Broadway at the Playhouse Theatre on March 31, 1945, and moved to the Royale Theatre, with a combined run of 563 performances. It was awarded the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play of the season.
- Amanda Wingfield -- Laurette Taylor
- Tom Wingfield -- Eddie Dowling
- Laura Wingfield -- Julie Haydon
- Jim O'Connor -- Anthony Ross
Revivals
The play has been revived on Broadway six times. The 1965 production, at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, ran for 175 performances, and starred Maureen Stapleton (Amanda), Piper Laurie (Laura), Pat Hingle (Gentleman Caller), and George Grizzard (Tom).
A Circle in the Square Theatre revival in 1975 again starred Stapleton and Rip Torn as Tom, and ran for 77 performances.
A production opened at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on December 1, 1983 and ran for 92 performances. It starred Jessica Tandy as Amanda, Amanda Plummer as Laura, and Bruce Davison (Tom) and John Heard (Gentleman Caller).
The Roundabout Theatre production opened at the now-demolished Criterion Center Stage Right on November 15, 1994 and ran for 57 performances. Julie Harris starred as Amanda, with Calista Flockhart (Laura), Željko Ivanek (Tom), and Kevin Kilner (Gentleman Caller).
On March 22, 2005, a production opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre and starred Jessica Lange (Amanda), Sarah Paulson (Laura), Christian Slater (Tom), and Josh Lucas (Gentleman Caller). The production ran for 120 performances and 29 previews.
A recent revival of The Glass Menagerie was a West End revival at the Apollo Theatre, and ended on 19 May 2007. It was directed by Rupert Gould and starred Jessica Lange as Amanda Wingfield.
[edit] Film and television adaptations
At least two movie versions of The Glass Menagerie have been produced, the first directed by Irving Rapper in 1950 , starring Gertrude Lawrence, Jane Wyman, Kirk Douglas, and Arthur Kennedy, and the second by Paul Newman in 1987, starring Joanne Woodward, John Malkovich, Karen Allen, and James Naughton. Williams characterized the former, which had an implied happy ending grafted onto it, as the worst adaptation of his work.[citation needed] It is not currently available on VHS or DVD.
There is also a TV adaptation by Anthony Harvey, broadcast on ABC on December 16, 1973, starring Katharine Hepburn, Sam Waterston, Michael Moriarty, and Joanna Miles. All four actors were nominated for Emmys, with Moriarty and Miles winning. An earlier television version, recorded on videotape, and starring Shirley Booth, was broadcast on December 8, 1966 as part of CBS Playhouse. Hal Holbrook played Tom and Pat Hingle played the Gentleman Caller. Booth was nominated for an Emmy for her performance as Amanda.
There is an Indian version of the movie, filmed in Malayalam language. The movie titled Akale (meaning Beyond), released in 2004, is directed by Shyamaprasad. Prithiviraj, Geethu Mohandas, Sheela and Tom George play the main characters.Music was scored by M Jayachandran
In 1997, Kiefer Sutherland (star of the popular TV show 24) returned to his theatrical roots, starring with his mother (Canadian actress Shirley Douglas) in a Canadian production of The Glass Menagerie at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto ( http://www.kiefer-rocks.com/bio/ ).
[edit] Parodies
The Glass Menagerie was parodied by Christopher Durang in a short one-act entitled For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls, in which Laura is replaced by a wimpy hypochondriac son named Lawrence, and the "gentleman caller" becomes Ginny, a butch female factory worker with a hearing problem.
Ryan Landry and The Gold Dust Orphans did a parody called The Pickaw Menagerie, set in a FEMA trailer in post-Katrina New Orleans, with Landry playing Amanda in an all-male cast.
Ten Directions Productions has created a show called Bouffon Glass Menajoree which parodies The Glass Menagerie in the Bouffon style of clowning. The show features a hunchbacked Tom who revels in his drinking, a self-destructive Laura who plays cutting games with her knife, and an obesely fat Amanda. The gentleman caller is played by an audience member. The show has toured to several festivals in the United States in 2006 & 2007.
[edit] External links
- Internet Broadway Database listing for all productions
- Study resource for writing about The Glass Menagerie
- Internet Movie Database listing for 1966 television production
- Bouffon Glass Menajoree
- Akale at the Internet Movie Database
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