I first encountered “The Glass Menagerie” through a school production during high school. The members of the production team at Fall Church’s NOVA Nightsky Theater were similarly exposed first to this Tennessee Williams play in high school, either by reading or by performing the work. Indeed, producing director Jaclyn Robertson notes the exclusively secondary-school experience many people have with this play is one of the reasons for producing it now: “We chose this piece because we always love including a modern classic in our season, and this one, while very popular with high schools, is not often performed by community theaters because of the small cast size.”
For those new to the “Menagerie”—and those who have not seen it since high school!—the plot involves a determined mother, Amanda Wingfield, who dreams of raising herself and her family out of poverty. She has her mind set on arranging social meetings for her timid daughter, Laura, in the hope of ensnaring a financially prosperous husband for her; however, Laura’s self-consciousness from a limp, combined with her shyness, makes it difficult for her to live up to the social expectations of a young Southern lady and receive a “gentleman caller.” As her brother Tom says of Laura, “She lives in a world of her own—a world of little glass ornaments,” a menagerie of tiny animals made of glass. Her favorite animal is a glass unicorn, which represents her uniqueness and quiet charm but inability to blend into society due to her social anxiety and shyness.
For his part, Tom is earning a low salary in a stupefying warehouse job while dreaming of travel to distant places. One day Tom brings home his friend and co-worker Jim O’Connor, who happens to be a past classmate of Laura, a boy whom she had admired from afar. The mother is ecstatic that Laura will finally be pursued by a man, just as she was in her youth.
Nightsky’s Adam Ressa is an excellent Tom, with a light southern accent, inner fire, and an ability to bring out the touches of humor in the play. This is evident when in one scene he teases his mother by saying that he does not actually go to the movies when he leaves the house at night, but rather visits opium dens, where he is a celebrity criminal, “Killer Wingfield!” Jen Ware is compelling as Laura. Diffident and withdrawn at first, she gradually warms as she is courted by Jim.
Jim is played energetically by Tom O’Neill, bringing out a confident character to inspire sheltered, retiring Laura. Jessie Roberts is wonderful as the mother Amanda, annoying her children to no end with her overbearing advice to Tom and her schemes for catching a monied husband for Laura. At the same time, she brings an unexpected warmth to the character and leaves little doubt that, as a mother, she loves her children unreservedly.
NOVA Nightsky’s intimate venue features audience seats right in front of a dinner table in a spartan room; a porch is visible in the background beyond a screen. This close setting, combined with the set design of Sabrina McAllister, works exceedingly well for “The Glass Menagerie,” as it conveys the claustrophobic world of the play and the small apartment Tom longs to escape. Notes Hannah Ruth Wellons, the director: “The audience is at the kitchen table with the Wingfields while they eat dinner, on the fire escape with Tom during his soliloquies, and on the floor with Jim and Laura while they talk.”
Before the show and during the intermission, period music is provided by vintage sound recordings of 1920’s and 1930’s tunes such as “Love Nest” and “Lullaby of the Leaves,” perhaps typical of the old phonograph records Laura is said to play, in addition to her hobby collecting figures for her glass menagerie.
The direction is superb, and director Wellons shared with Falls Church News-Press some of her thoughts as she put together this engaging production of the play: “One of the things I love most about ‘The Glass Menagerie’ is how relatable the characters are. Everyone can identify with at least one of the characters, and we all have dashed hopes and distant dreams that we still cling to, just like they do. ‘The Glass Menagerie’ is both a memory play in form and a commentary on memories. One of my favorite stage directions from the play, in reference to the glass menagerie, is ‘How beautiful it is, and how easily it can be broken.’ This fragility is true not only of glass, but also of memories and dreams.”
Whether your memories coincide with the experiences of the characters in the play or with a desire to see this American high school staple with adult eyes, we recommend this fine version performed at NOVA Nightsky Theater in Falls Church through April 27, 2024. For further information, please visit novanightskytheater.com.
