The Glass Menagerie, a play by Tennessee Williams opened on Feb. 2 at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) will present this play until March 17, 2013.
Zachary Quinto plays Tom, the narrator and brother, in Tennessee Williams’s “a memory play” displaying family dysfunction, abandonment, and love. The entire play is presented on one stage set which is a minimal depiction of a small apartment and a fire escape. The set is surrounded by a moat of a black water-like substance which enhances the dream/memory tragic feeling.
Cherry Jones is Amanda, the mother of her son Tom and daughter Laura. Amanda, a single mother, lives in the memory of her previous married life as a popular and beautiful southern belle. Since I grew up in the south her performance and accent were right on. She presented Amanda as both a humorous and tragic figure.
The daughter Laura, acted by Celia Keenan-Bolger, is cripple and extremely shy. She lives in the memory of a high school crush. Her tiny glass unicorn is her security blanket. Brian J. Smith, as her Gentleman Caller, offers hope and disappointment.
Zachary Quinto, with his rugged handsome face, as Tom describes his tragic unhappy memory of his family from which he had to escape. His anguish is displayed as he frequently flops on a couch or the floor. Leaving his mother and sister was only way to escape the family dysfunction. But he realizes he can’t escape from the memory of his sister.
Zachary is well known as the young Spock in the first Star Trek movie and as his role in the T.V. series “Heroes”. After the play he was surrounded by fans, whom he graciously gave autographs.
The Glass Menagerie is a play which will stay with you as you explore your own feelings of family and of responsibility. Tickets can be purchased at www.americanrepertorytheater.org or call 617-547-8300. Nearby Cambridge hotels are The Charles Hotel and the Sheraton. Many delicious restaurants, such as my fave Legal Seafood, are within walking distance.
From Richmond, Virgina take Amtrak or a plane (under $150 rt) to Boston. I was there during the recent great blizzard, but Massachusetts knows how to handle snow.
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