'Glass Menagerie' for a new millenium

Sarah Rebell Staff Writer

“This isn’t your mama’s ‘Glass Menagerie,’” said one of the students rehearsing for the Experimental Theater of Vassar College’s final show of the semester, “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams.

The production, proposed by Aly French ’08 and Ashley Troumouliaris ’08 as their senior drama project, takes an original approach to the classic American play. It is “best described as a memory play, which is a combination of ‘poetic realism and expressionist elements,’” said director Neil Worden, Visiting Assistant Professor of Drama.

According to Worden, Williams was influenced by experimental writers Bertolt Brecht and Anton Chekhov. Worden’s production remains faithful to Williams’ vision in contrast to the more realist interpretation in American film and theater director and producer Elia Kazan’s original 1944 production.

“[Kazan] took away all the elements that made this play into an experimental experience,” said Worden. “He didn’t think that experiment was of interest to the public.”

Kazan’s production used a box set with walls, and the audience observed the play from the fourth wall. “It made the play fundamentally sentimental and utterly realistic,” said Worden. The Experimental Theater production set has no walls to open the action to the audience.

“The Glass Menagerie” tells the story of a struggling family in the 1930s, and follows events that ensue after a “gentleman caller” arrives to court one of the daughters. There are only four characters in the play: the single mother Amanda (played by Troumouliaris) who lives in her supposedly glamorous past; Tom (Max Perry ’08), the son trying to break free from his mother’s grasp; the crippled daughter Laura (French), whose collection of glass figures inspires the title; and Jim (Jamie Watkins ’10), the gentleman caller.

“We see so many different worlds in the play,” said Watkins. “Laura lives in her own world created by her glass figures and music. Tom is fantasizing about the world outside the apartment…My character is a charmer. He has the ability to work his way into other people’s [worlds] and other people’s trust.”

“This play is a memory play filled with expressionist elements,” said Worden. “All of the things in the play are seen through the lense of Tom’s world—it’s an experiment of Tom’s mind.”

Though the tensions between the characters are palpable, “there are no bad guys,” said Perry. “Everyone is trying their best. They think they are doing the right thing. That’s why [the play] really rings true to me.”

A week before rehearsals began, the actors sat down to discuss the play and their characters. By the week’s end, everyone had ideas not only for his or her own character but for the entire play as well. The open environment had the actors completing each other’s sentences.

“Everyone’s been invested not only in our own character but in the project as a whole,” said Troumouliaris. “It’s great to come here and work with everybody.”

One distinct element of this production is the use of a live Foley artist, who makes sound effects throughout the show, such as slamming doors and breaking glass.

“Foley artists come from old radio, where you’d have live readings going on and need someone to produce live sound effects,” said Michael Faba ’10, the show’s Foley artist.

The actors are enthusiastic about the opportunity to take a different approach to sound effects. Referring to the incorporation of a Foley artist as a “gift,” French said, “having the accentuated live sound…for me, it’s so real.”

“It makes things new every night. Every single effect is a new experience,” added Worden.

The challenges of developing and producing “The Glass Menagerie” has not escaped the actors. “It’s going to be continuing through every performance. It never ends,” said French.

While the actors will likely feel weight of those challengers until the curtain drops, Worden is confident they will perform aptly.

“I’m always lucky at Vassar,” said Worden, “because I have smart actors.”