Some people can never become accustomed to the place and time in which they find themselves. Somewhere in the past was so much better or happier or comfortable that only memories of that time can support them. Such is the story of Amanda Wingfield, a slightly-faded Southern belle, now reduced to living in a tenement in St. Louis with only a son and daughter for company. The Glass Menagerie is one of the earlier plays by Tennessee Williams, and his first real hit. Amanda once had a husband, but (in one of the greatest lines ever) 'he fell in love with long distance' and disappeared from the family's life.

Son Tom, in his mid-twenties or so, narrates the play, explaining the various scenes as they happen. He wants desperately to be a writer, but is working in a shoe factory for $65. a month to feed and house his mother and sister, Laura. She is horribly shy as the result of not being able to cope with a physical disability that affects her walking or climbing stairs. Apparently, she's also not terribly bright, being unable to concentrate on classwork at the business school in which her mother has enrolled her.

Mother, of course, is determined that a husband is what Laura needs more than anything else, and pleads with Tom to bring home some young man with whom he works. The Gentleman Caller proves to be the one-time Big Man on Campus when he and Laura were in school together. Naturally, she developed a major crush on him, even though he paid little attention to her. When she discovers that it is Jim that Tom is bringing to the house, she declares she cannot appear, as her indigestion will not allow it.

Amanda forces her to appear, however, and the scenes between Jim and Laura are luminous before he confesses that he's engaged and will not call again. He has however, jostled her out of her funk, and she's actually carried on a conversation with him, in spite of the fact that he's knocked her glass unicorn off the table. Without his horn, the fragile little creature is just a horse like the rest of the horses in her menagerie.

The set designed by Robert Mark Morgan is dark and brooding, much like St. Louis must have been in 1937 when the action takes place. The adjacent fire escape serves well as a landing place for Tom as he tries (and sometimes succeeds) in avoiding his mother. Lighting by Michael Lincoln enhances each scene, especially when the only available light is a candelabra on the floor in front of Jim and Laura. Costumes by Susan Tsu were marvelous by their very unobtrusiveness, and as always, the sound design by James C. Swonger was excellent.

In one scene, midway through the first act, the music of Michael Roth begins softly, and only after a few moments does one realize it is just one chord, repeated over and over in a monotonous pattern but increasing volume, imitating the repetitious sound of the machinery in the shoe factory. This was the turning point of the play for me, as it highlighted the reason behind as well as the results of Amanda's incessant chatter. Her fear of the present and the future makes her continually repeat her dreams of the past, effectively chasing her son towards his future, which is not in St. Louis.

Tom is determined to be a writer, and craving adventure, spends nearly every evening at the movies, absorbing and learning from them. It is Amanda's greatest fear that he, too, will disappear, but she's helpless to keep him tied to her. Director Michael Bloom set a reasonably brisk pace while still allowing the play breathing space; a neat trick when it works right, as it does here. The appropriately named stage manager, Amanda Harland, kept things moving smoothly throughout.

Of the four actors, Sorin Brouwers (who also did the pre-curtain talk the night I was there) was sizzling in his brash intensity. He was clearly a young man on the way up, and not much in the mood for detours. Alison Lani was the slightly distanced Laura, convincingly shy and withdrawn, but who could be drawn out of her shell by the right lure. Tall, dark and handsome Daniel Damon Joyce is Tom, who has to work to keep himself within the bounds and not lashing out at his ineffective, lost-in-the-past mother, played very effectively by Linda Purl. In the first act, her constant suggestions and complaints are so aggravating it's difficult to reconcile Tom's patience with her.

But when she appears as the faded belle in the second act, it's as though a second curtain has been lifted and we see the hopeful girl she once was, and longs for again, with all her heart and soul. It was a riveting performance.

The Glass Menagerie runs through October 5 in the Drury Theatre of the Cleveland Playhouse. For tickets call 216.795.7000 or go to clevelandplayhouse.com

From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz ArtsWriterATroadrunner.com

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