In “The Glass Menagerie” Tennessee Williams takes a family’s disparate characters and pumps them up with tight language and shoulder-cringing situations. Although it’s a poignant glimpse into familial tension, Ross Valley Players presents this solid drama with several touches of levity.
It works splendidly. Director David Abrams notes “Williams has the humor in his script, you just have to bring it out.” Abrams pulled extraordinary performances from familiar talents in this production.
Veteran actor Tamar Cohn is astounding as mother Amanda Wingfield, an aging and abandoned Southern belle. Cohn is simply perfect in her role. She’s a steam-roller of drive and determination, yet drifting to her flowery and flirtatious past at the slightest provocation. Cohn pulls up so many spot-on personality changes one senses her character is schizophrenic. This is Cohn at her professional best. She’s a joy to behold.
What a breath of fresh air…
Greg Crane portrays her son Tom, a warehouse worker with no tangible prospects. Tom bottles his frustration, indeed rage, at his cage within the Wingfield family. He desperately longs for escape. He enters and exits the stage from side and rear doors, restless with frustrated energy and ready to shatter. The only tether to his family is the concern he has for his older sister Laura, a slightly disabled and extremely introverted character enacted by Carolyn Arnold. The emotional string connecting sister and brother is a delicate glass filament, as only Williams can write.
When his mother badgers him about finding a suitor for sister Laura, Tom relents and brings home a dinner guest, his co-worker Jim (Jesse Lumb). Mother transforms herself into a flittering and flirtatious belle, all her hopes pinned on this prospective “gentleman caller” for her daughter. Lumb masterfully enlivens this role as the genial and friendly potential suitor, capturing the stage with his outsize confidence. What a breath of fresh air for the stale and stagnant Wingfield family!
The conflict and synergy between Laura’s fragility and Jim’s positivity provide rays of hope that lift this timeless classic far above a simple family drama. “The Glass Menagerie” is one shows you’ll not want to miss.
ASR Editor Cari Lynn Pace is a member of SFBATCC and writes theatre and lifestyle reviews for the Marinscope Community Newspapers throughout Marin County.
| Production | The Glass Menagerie |
|---|---|
| Written by | Tennessee Williams |
| Directed by | David Abrams |
| Producing Company | Ross Valley Players |
| Production Dates | Thru April 5th |
| Production Address | Ross Valley Players "The Barn" 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd, Greenbrae, CA 94904 |
| Website | www.MountainPlay.org |
| Telephone | 415. 383-1100 |
| Tickets | $17-$29 |
| Reviewer Score | Max in each category is 5/5 |
| Overall | 4/5 |
| Performance | 5/5 |
| Script | 5/5 |
| Stagecraft | 5/5 |
| Aisle Seat Review Pick? | YES! |