4th Play: The Glass Menagerie

Allie Boettcher
9/6/10
Theatre 240

The Glass Menagerie
Play Response

1)    Tenessee Williams’ play The Glass Menagerie truly moved me because it wasn’t just another fairytale with a happily ever after sort of ending; it was real. Williams’ play spoke to me about everyday struggles that regular families endure with each other. This play meant something to me because I felt I could relate to the family in the play. Alike the Wingfield family my family is dysfunctional. Although we love each other we find it difficult to express in the right way at times. The character I feel I can most identify with is Tom because he has an itch to escape, to follow his dreams, and is independent. Because I understand the way in which the character of Tom operates this play means something to me and touches me emotionally. I believe that the point of Williams’ play is to ignite an emotional reaction in his audience by exposing the harshness of reality and the affect that reality can have on a family. Ultimately, Williams wrote this play because it is an autobiography derived from his own personal experiences; he wants to be able to share those emotions he went through as well as the life lessons that he learned. Williams successfully emphasizes the importance of facing reality and finding the will to be independent.
2)    I would choose to do the play in the 21st century because I would like to see how effective the themes of the play would be with a modern twist.
3)    In my own opinion, maybe a few days or perhaps a week or so of time lapses in the play. My thinking behind this is that there has been a lot building up in each character; tension is at its highest and the audience is there to witness the climax and the resolution.
4)    Overall the environment feels very uncomfortable to me because most of the play takes place in the Wingfield’s apartment, and the audience is trapped in this small bubble. With the setting being dominantly placed in the house it creates tension. Also, the glass figurines of Laura’s are beautiful and pleasing to the eye, yet they are unsettling at the same time. Reading the play I felt the figurines were a metaphor for the fragile state of the family, and at any moment things could fall apart and break into a million pieces. Finally, the lighting. I picture it being dimly lit because of the mood and tone of the play which evokes an emotion of sadness in the audience.
5)    A scenic requirement of the play is an inside perspective of an apartment, small area for a fire escape, an alley behind the apartment, and a few building structures across from the Wingfield apartment to give a city like illusion.
Scene by Scene
6)    Scene 1: Tom is standing in the fire escape that leads to the apartment and is leaning against a wall. He is looking in through the apartment and out into the audience. Once his narrative has ended the lighting changes. Tom enters and joins his family at the table in the dining room which is SR (stage right). Once supper ends in the scene Laura and Tom remain at the table. Amanda leaves the room into the kitchen which is DSR (down stage right).

Scene 2: The scene opens with Laura in the living room tending to her glass figurines DSC (down stage center). Amanda enters the front door DSL (down stage left). When Laura hears her coming she rushes to the typewriter in the living room DSR. Throughout the scene the characters move around. They go to the couch USC (up stage center) which is slightly to the right so the glass figurines can be seen.

Scene 3: The scene opens with Tom at the fire escape DSL (down stage left) while doing his narrative. Amanda is shown speaking on the phone after the narrative ends. She is in the living room USR (up stage right). When Tom tries to leave through the door later in the scene, DSL (down stage left) he flings his jacket in anger and hits Laura’s glass figurines DSC (down stage center).

Scene 4: Scene opens with Tom in the alley. The alley is behind the whole apartment set up and clearly visible to the audience. All other mentions of DS (down stage) aren’t in actuality that far from the audience as the alley. In this scene Laura puts Tom to bed on the couch in the living room USC (up stage center). When scene progresses Lauara leaves DSL (down stage left) through the front door. Amanda and Tom remain in the living room before Tom leaves through the door DSL as well to his Warehouse job.

Scene 5: Scene starts in the living room CS (center stage). Tom and Amanda go outside the front door to the fire escape DSL (down stage left) to make a wish on the moon. Much of the rest of the scene resumes in the living room which is CS.

Scene 6: Scene opens with Tom’s narrative in the fire escape DSL. Once the narrative ends we see Laura standing, elevated as she is being fitted in a dress by Amanda slightly off CS (center stage). Much of the rest of this scene takes place CS in the living room and in the dining room DSR (down stage right).

Scene 7: Opens with Jim, Amanda, and Tom in the dining room DSR (down stage right). The majority of the rest of the scene takes place CS (center stage) with Jim and Laura as they converse. Jim leaves DSL (down stage left) through the front door. Amanda, Tom and Laura are left CS (center stage) in the living room discussing the already engaged gentlemen caller, Jim. Tom, enraged, leaves through the front door DSL. The rest of this scene takes place in narrative in the alley DSC (down stage center) behind the apartment setting.