Theater Review:

The words of Tennessee Williams in ‘The Glass Menagerie’ echoed through my head long after I left Theatre Palisades Saturday night. Here’s Tom, the young man whose ambitions have been forfeited to family obligations. ‘I descended the steps of this fire escape for a last time and followed, from then on, in my father’s footsteps, attempting to find in motion what was lost in space . . . . I would have stopped, but I was pursued by something. . . . I pass the lighted window of a shop where perfume is sold. The window is filled with pieces of colored glass, tiny transparent bottles in delicate colors, like bits of a shattered rainbow. Then all at once my sister touches my shoulder. I turn around and look into her eyes. Oh, Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be!’ Most audiences are familiar with ‘The Glass Menagerie,’ which tells the story of an overbearing Southern Belle mother, Amanda Wingfield, and her absentee husband, ‘a telephone man who fell in love with long distances.’ Her son Tom supports her and his sister Laura by working in a job he detests while seeking solace in his writing and the movies. The fourth character in the play, the gentleman caller Jim O’Conner, represents the hope that Amanda so desperately needs, that her painfully shy daughter Laura will be successful in a relationship, which in turn will ensure Amanda’s future. This haunting drama was a semi-autobiographical account of Williams’ life. His family lived with his mother’s parents until he was seven. Family life disintegrated after the father, a traveling salesman and heavy drinker, moved them to St. Louis. The security that Williams and his sister had felt with the grandparents slowly disintegrated as they shuffled to 16 different places in 10 years. Since Williams was shy and ostracized at school, he and his sister Rose found themselves becoming increasingly close friends. Laura is patterned after Rose, who in later years suffered mental illness and then underwent a prefrontal lobotomy. Williams is one of America’s greatest playwrights, and “The Glass Menagerie” is one of his most famous plays, along with ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,’ and ‘Streetcar Named Desire.’ His plays are a favorite with actors because the characters are rich and multidimensional, despite being burdened with fatal flaws. Williams’ dramatic roles may deceive an actor into thinking that their inner dialogue needs to be intoned with a bravura to match the larger-than-life characters. It’s difficult to master the nuances, to help the audience see a real person, rather than an actor or actress in a role. Judging from the women who have played Amanda Wingfield– Laurette Taylor, Helen Hayes, Maureen Stapleton, Joanne Woodward and Katharine Hepburn’with only two winning critical acclaim, one can appreciate that accomplishing subtlety is no small feat. At the Theatre Palisades production, Drew Fitzsimmons, who plays Tom Wingfield, is relatively successful in displaying the conflict that his character feels. On one hand he feels responsible for his sister and mother’s welfare, but on the other hand he is slowly suffocating. Tom describes a magic act to Laura. ‘But the wonderfullest trick of all was the coffin trick. We nailed him into a coffin and he got out of the coffin without removing one nail . . . . There is a trick that would come in handy for me–get me out of this two-by-four situation!’ The Gentleman Caller Jim (Olev Aleksander) and Laura (Catherine Day) have nice chemistry. Jim is well on his way to fitting into his character, selling Laura the goods that he needs to believe in himself. The set designed by the play’s director, Sherman Wayne, is particularly effective, especially since Tom reminds us in the beginning that this is a memory play. The gauzy effect produced by using curtains gives the effect of something a bit distant, a different time–just as memories are. This is one of the most memorable sets I’ve seen at this theater. Special mention should go to the costume designer, Diana Mann. I specifically liked the clothes she chose for Amanda (Martha Hunter), particularly the dress worn for the dinner with The Gentleman Caller. Why the director chose not to use some props, like a leg brace for the impaired Laura, or put some type of liquid in the glasses, I don’t know. I did find it annoying to watch people pretend to drink out of empty glasses, especially since there was such careful attention to other details. I also didn’t like the last scene with Amanda and Laura sitting together on the sofa, when Tom asks Laura to blow out the candles; the focus, I feel, should be solely on Laura. She should haunt the audience, just as she’s done to her brother all of these years. Community theater is a valuable resource to people in the Palisades; without the long drive to downtown L.A., it is available in our back yard. Despite the uneven acting, as long as great pieces, such as Williams’ ‘The Glass Menagerie’ are produced, audiences will be assured a satisfying theater experience. ‘The Glass Menagerie’ continues at Pierson Playhouse, 941 Haverford, through February 18. Performances run Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. For tickets, call the box office at (310) 454-1970. ——— Reporting by Staff Writer Sue Pascoe. To contact, e-mail: features@palipost.com