Review: ‘Glass Menagerie’ captures fragility of hope

I suspect that because of many a high school and college literature class, most of us are familiar with Tennessee Williams’ iconic drama and masterpiece “The Glass Menagerie.” Yet despite Broadway revivals in 2013 and 2017, I can’t recall the last time I saw a production of “The Glass Menagerie.” Thankfully, PM&L in its season 59 1/2 has produced an intensely faithful interpretation.

“The Glass Menagerie” premiered in Chicago in 1944; the 13-week run catapulted Tennessee Williams into fame. Championed by critics Ashton Stevens and Claudia Cassidy, it widely was purported to be a strongly autobiographical piece, with characters based on his mother, his mentally fragile sister Rose, and the father who abandoned them. “The Glass Menagerie” was Tennessee Williams’ first successful play.

Director Darius Russelle presents an emotional tragedy focusing on potent words; it is a memory play of a family ordeal occurring in 1945, and the times before. Russelle’s pacing flows well, and his stage blocking with the four-person ensemble is creative. He clearly understands the motivations of the characters in this production.

Helen Harold completely captivates as Amanda, the overbearing Southern belle of a mother, whose past life of wealth, cotillions and suitors (17 in one day!) boasts of fame her children can barely understand; how she yearns for her past. Harold portrays Amanda as broken, but coquettish; devoted, but hateful to her children. She cannot accept her real life. “Life, it’s not easy. It requires Spartan endurance.” Harold gives a truly memorable performance.

Anthony Mannion is Tom, the central character and narrator. His restlessness is evident; he escapes by drinking and going to the movies. He is pressured by his mother to find a suitable husband for his sister, Laura. Thanks to Mannion’s talents, you truly pick up on that burdened feeling of obligation to his family. Mannion’s Tom – frustrated, irritable – wants to be a poet. In a dead-end job, this dreamer is suffocating. Mannion also knows how to deliver tongue-in-cheek humor.

Eleanor Wells is a sweet, introverted, fragile Laura. Obsessed, vulnerable and melancholy, she is enmeshed in her delicate glass menagerie of animals (which I wish we saw more of) and old Victrola records left by her father. Wells doesn’t play Laura as peculiar, and her physical disability is a slight limp. Definitely, Wells shows us that Laura has withdrawn from the outside world. The unicorn of the menagerie symbolizes her loneliness and uncommonness, which Wells credibly displays.

Making his appearance in Act Two, Matthew Leptich is the gum-chewing gentleman caller, Jim O’Connor. He was popular as an athlete and singer in high school, where both Laura and Tom knew him. Now as Tom’s work acquaintance, Jim is the representation of the real world, and delivers some of the play’s best lines: “Knowledge, money and power – that’s what democracy is built on”; and as he counsels Laura: “Being disappointed is one thing, being discouraged is another.” Leptich plays Jim as normal, making you believe he hopes to shine again with his ideas of self-improvement through public speaking classes and radio engineering study. But as exquisite an actor as Leptich is, I had a difficult time accepting that his and Mannion’s characters went to high school together – there is an obvious age discrepancy.

Each of the four actors’ characters struggle against the hopelessness that threatens their lives. They have difficulty accepting and relating to reality.

Mark Audrain’s set design lends itself well to a low-income, Depression-era St. Louis apartment. I was glad to see the absent father’s picture prominently displayed (the unseen character), and a strong presentation of a real fire escape. The raised platform for the living area and outside alley is ingenious. The costumes by Lorrie Ferguson are beautifully appropriate and era conscious, and complement the actors.

Impressively, the PM&L Theatre ushers hand you a show guide that details Tennessee Williams’ biography, as well as provides an explanation of the language and vernacular of “The Glass Menagerie,” and Great Depression history. And keeping the environment in mind, PM&L uses the season 59 program printed pre-pandemic.

Many themes are covered in this intimate production of “The Glass Menagerie“ – freedom, duty, family, deception, abandonment, dreams and hopes. Certainly, as theater definitions go, this is a tragedy – with suffering and sorrowful incidents. There are events encountered and caused by a heroic individual, but there are also tinges of humor and release.

Congratulations to PM&L. What a delight to experience a truly enduring classic live onstage again. “The Glass Menagerie” is a satisfying and endearing addition to season 59 1/2.

• Regina Belt-Daniels is an increasingly appreciative Tennessee Williams fan. Currently serving on the theater boards of RCLPC and It’s Showtime, when not attending live theater, she can be found traveling with her husband, directing, acting and teaching.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “The Glass Menagerie”

WHERE: PM&L Theatre, 877 Main St., Antioch

WHEN: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2:30 p.m. Sundays through April 10

INFORMATION: 847-395-3055, pmltheatre.com