Set in St. Louis in the 1930’s, The Glass Menagerie is a story about the Wingfield family, which finds itself inescapably caught between destitution and the tedious nature of day-to-day life in St. Louis.

Under Hal Partlow’s direction, the audience is introduced to Tom Wingfield (Joe Leavitt) who has been hopelessly trapped into being man of the house, his mischievously manipulative mother, Amanda (Jan Dial) and his painfully shy, crippled sister Laura (Alix McEachern Jones). At Amanda’s insistence, Tom invites his co-worker (Jason Laughrey) for dinner.

“The Glass Menagerie has been a terrific challenge for me,” said Partlow. “The elements of the set are vitally important in establishing the mood of the play. The simplistic approach to the set and lighting design is symbolic of the void in each character’s life.”

Tom, who was forced into supporting the family after their father walked out years beforehand, had to abandon his dream of becoming a writer. Laura becomes a frighteningly fragile, shy girl who seems to have no chance at marriage or a career.

Exacerbating the situation is Amanda, once a beautiful Southern belle, who has grown older and is desperate to force-feed her family ‘proper’ Southern morals and beliefs. Driven and methodical, she covers it all with the disgustingly sweet manner becoming of a lady.

Laura, however, seems interested only in her miniature glass figurines which are so fragile the smallest movement could break them. It becomes obvious that Laura takes comfort in creatures as fragile as she is. The event around which the play is written is the possibility of a suitor for Laura.

“Each of our actors has expertly captured the essence of their character providing the audience with the emotional truths of the fragile human spirit,” stated Partlow. “It is a sweetly melancholy play with a flavor of the Old South, memories of better days gone by, hopes and dreams unrealized, and the pursuit of those dreams.”

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