The Glass Menagerie Review

The University Player showcased the play “The Glass Menagerie” from Feb. 26 until March 1.  “The Glass Menagerie” was originally written by Tennessee Williams and premiered in Chicago in 1944. Williams based “The Glass Menagerie” on his own life as well as another screenplay he wrote called “The Gentleman Caller”.

“The Glass Menagerie” follows Tom Wingfield, played by Matthew Duncan, as he revisits the memories of his family as he is both a narrator and protagonist of this memory based play.

Tom is constantly at odds with his mother, Amanda Wingfield; played by Destiny Schmidt, and is ultimately pushed to leave his mother and his sister, Laura Wingfield; played by Brook Holben, after Laura’s “gentleman caller” Jim O’Connor; played by Joel Martin, tells the family of his engagement.

Kayla Shutters, director of The University Player’s showing of “The Glass Menagerie”, emersed the audience into Tom’s story with an in-the-round stage to fit the external and internal battles throughout the play.

In addition to the arena like staging, each of the actors did well to bring their characters to life from Laura’s limp side-effect of her pleurosis to Amanda’s over the top southern belle personality. The crew’s hard work and dedication was clearly translated throughout the entirety of the play.

With only a few mistakes here and there, the play packed an emotional punch to get the audience thinking with a hint of comedy on the side.