“Glass Menagerie” is worth a look

By ADAM CROWE
A Seat on the Aisle

Unless you skipped school a lot as a child, you most likely were made to read/study an “important” author or piece of literature. Sometimes it was a bore, other times a revelation. The tag of “important” could often seem like a negative, especially if the reader wasn’t quite ready for the task.

Poor Tennessee Williams has spent the last 80 years in that “important” category. In reality, it is those who choose to skip this quintessential American playwright that are the poorer for it.

Indiana Repertory Theatre’s current production is Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, his first big success.

Yes, the play premiered in 1944, but that certainly does not make it in any way antiquated or less relevant than it was at its premiere. Directed by James Still, this production shimmers, as it should.

Billed as a “memory” play, the cast effortlessly fills every moment with a sense of loss and regret, but also with the warmth that some memories can bring.

Amanda (Julie Fishell) with her son Tom (Felipe Carrasco). (Photo by Zach Rosing)

As an aside, I overheard an usher at intermission say that she was sure that she knew the show, only to discover that her memories were of A Streetcar Named Desire. Given the numerous film and video productions of that show, it’s not really a surprise. Williams still gets the credit.

But The Glass Menagerie has always stood on its own as a powerful and poetic experience. Tennessee Williams’ musings on stifled ambitions, loss, and regret are indeed “important.”

I am grateful that the Indiana Repertory Theater’s treatment of the piece makes it as alive and as vital as anything written in this century.

The technical aspects are wonderful: Edward T. Morris’ set, Yao Chen’s costumes, Michelle Habeck’s lighting, Melanie Chen Cole’s sound, and Andrew Elliot’s hair designs are all excellent. The cast includes Julie Fishell as Amanda Wingfield, Felipe Carrasco as Tom Wingfield, Delaney Feener as Laura Wingfield, and Sam Bell-Gurwitz as The Gentleman Caller. All are stellar.

Bottom line: Like that usher, maybe you only think of Streetcar’s Stanley and Blanche when thinking of Mr. Williams. I urge you not to make the mistake of missing the Wingfields of his The Glass Menagerie.

The show runs through April 6 at The Indiana Repertory Theatre in downtown Indianapolis. Tickets are available at irtlive.com.

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