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The Glass Menagerie

For the film adaptations, seeThe Glass Menagerie (film).

The Glass Menagerie[2]is amemory playbyTennessee Williamsthat premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, hishistrionicmother, and his mentally fragile sister. In writing the play, Williams drew on an earlier short story, as well as a screenplay he had written under the title ofThe Gentleman Caller.

The Glass Menagerie
Written byTennessee Williams
CharactersAmanda Wingfield
Tom Wingfield
Laura Wingfield
Jim O'Connor
Mr. Wingfield
Date premiered26 December 1944[1]
Place premieredChicago
Original languageEnglish
GenreMemory play
SettingASt. Louisapartment, late 1930s

The play premiered in Chicago on 26 December 1944. After a shaky start, it was championed by Chicago criticsAshton StevensandClaudia Cassidy,whose enthusiasm helped build audiences so the producers could move the play to Broadway where it won theNew York Drama Critics' Circle Awardin 1945.The Glass Menageriewas Williams' first successful play; he went on to become one of America's most highly regarded playwrights.

Characters

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Amanda Wingfield
A fadedSouthern bellewho grew up inBlue Mountain,Mississippi,abandoned by her husband, and who is trying to raise her two children under harsh financial conditions. Amanda yearns for the comforts of her youth and also longs for her children to have the same comforts, but her devotion to them has made her – as she admits at one point – almost "hateful" towards them.
Tom Wingfield
Amanda's son. Tom works at a shoe warehouse to support his family but is frustrated by his job and aspires to be a poet. He struggles to write, all the while being sleep-deprived and irritable. Yet, he escapes from reality through nightly excursions to the movies. Tom feels both obligated toward yet burdened by his family and longs to escape.
Laura Wingfield
Amanda's daughter and Tom's elder sister. A childhood illness has left her with a limp, and she has a mental fragility and an inferiority complex that has isolated her from the outside world. She has created a world of her own symbolized by her collection of glass figurines. The unicorn may represent Laura because it is unique and fragile.
Jim O'Connor
An old high school acquaintance of Tom and Laura. Jim was a popular athlete and actor during his days atSoldan High School.Subsequent years have been less kind to Jim; by the time of the play's action, he is working as a shipping clerk at the same shoe warehouse as Tom. His hope to shine again is conveyed by his study of public speaking, radio engineering, and ideas of self-improvement that appear related to those ofDale Carnegie.
Mr. Wingfield
Amanda's absent husband, and Laura's and Tom's father. Mr. Wingfield was a handsome man, full of charm, who worked for a telephone company and eventually "fell in love with long-distance," abandoning his family 16 years before the play's action. Although he does not appear onstage, Mr. Wingfield is frequently referred to by Amanda, and his picture is prominently displayed in the Wingfields' living room. Thisunseen characterappears to incorporate elements of Williams' father.

Synopsis

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"Yes, I have tricks in my pocket, I have things up my sleeve. But I am the opposite of a stage magician. He gives you an illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion."

The beginning of Tom's opening soliloquy.

The play is introduced to the audience by Tom, the narrator and protagonist, as amemory playbased on his recollection of his mother Amanda and his sister Laura. Because the play is based on memory, Tom cautions the audience that what they see may not be precisely what happened.

Amanda Wingfield, a faded Southern belle of middle age, shares a dingy St. Louis apartment with her son Tom, in his early 20s, and his slightly older sister, Laura. Although she is a survivor and a pragmatist, Amanda yearns for the comforts and admiration she remembers from her days as a fêted debutante. She worries especially about the future of her daughter Laura, a young woman with a limp caused by a childhood illness, possiblypolio,and a tremulous insecurity about the outside world. Tom works in a shoe warehouse doing his best to support the family. He chafes under the banality and boredom of everyday life and struggles to write, while spending much of his spare time going to the movies — or so he says — at all hours of the night.

Amanda is obsessed with finding a suitor — or, as she puts it, a "gentleman caller" — for Laura, whose crippling shyness and anxiety led her to drop out of both high school and a subsequent secretarial course and who spends much of her time polishing and arranging her collection of little glass animals. Pressured by his mother to help find a caller for Laura, Tom invites Jim, an acquaintance from work, home for dinner.

The delighted Amanda spruces up the apartment, prepares a special dinner, and converses coquettishly with Jim, almost reliving her youth when she had an abundance of suitors calling on her. Laura discovers that Jim is the boy she was attracted to in high school and has often thought of since, though the relationship between the shy Laura and the "most likely to succeed" Jim was never more than a distant, teasing acquaintanceship. Initially, Laura is so overcome by shyness that she is unable to join the others at dinner, and she claims to be ill. After dinner, however, Jim and Laura are left alone by candlelight in the living room, waiting for the electricity to be restored. (Tom has not paid the power bill, which hints to the audience that he is banking the bill money and preparing to leave the household.)

As the evening progresses, Jim recognizes Laura's feelings of inferiority and encourages her to think better of herself. He and Laura share a quiet dance, in which he accidentally brushes against her glass menagerie, knocking a glass unicorn to the floor and breaking off its horn. Jim then compliments Laura and kisses her. After Jim tells Laura that he is engaged to be married, Laura asks him to take the broken unicorn as a gift, and he then leaves. When Amanda learns that Jim is to be married, she turns her anger upon Tom and cruelly lashes out at him, although Tom did not know that Jim was engaged. Tom seems quite surprised by this, and it is possible that Jim was only making up the story of the engagement, as he felt that the family was trying to set him up with Laura and he had no romantic interest in her.

The play concludes with Tom saying that he left home soon afterward and never returned. He then bids farewell to his mother and sister and asks Laura to blow out the candles.

Original Broadway cast

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Anthony Ross,Laurette Taylor,Eddie DowlingandJulie Haydonin the Broadway production ofThe Glass Menagerie(1945)

The Glass Menagerieopened onBroadwayin thePlayhouse Theatreon March 31, 1945, and played there until June 29, 1946. It then moved to theRoyale Theatrefrom July 1, 1946, until its closing on August 3, 1946. The show was directed byEddie DowlingandMargo Jones.The cast for opening night was as follows:

Laurette Taylor's performance as Amanda set a standard against which subsequent actresses taking the role were to be judged, typically to their disadvantage. In the 2004 documentaryBroadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There,Broadway veterans rank Taylor's performance as the most memorable of their lives.

The play won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award as Best American Play.[3]Williams gave credit to two Chicago critics, Claudia Cassidy and Ashton Stevens, for "giving him a 'start...in a fashion'..." Cassidy wrote that the play had "the stamina of success..." Stevens wrote that the play had "the courage of true poetry..."[4]

Autobiographical elements

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The characters and story mimic Williams' own life more closely than any of his other works: Williams (whose real name was Thomas) closely resembles Tom, and his mother inspires Amanda. His sickly and mentally unstable older sister Rose provides the basis for the fragile Laura (who Jim remembers calling "Blue Roses", an affectionate nickname based on his mishearing ofpleurosis,which she had in high school), though it has also been suggested that Laura may incorporate aspects of Williams himself, referencing his introverted nature and obsessive focus on just one aspect of life (writing for Williams and glass animals in Laura's case).[5]Williams, who was close to Rose growing up, learned to his horror that in 1943, in his absence, his sister had been subjected to a botchedlobotomy.Rose was left incapacitated and institutionalized for the rest of her life. With the success ofThe Glass Menagerie,Williams was to give half of the royalties from the play to his mother. He later designated half of the royalties from his playSummer and Smoketo provide for Rose's care, arranging for her move from the state hospital to a private sanitarium. Eventually, he was to leave the bulk of his estate to ensure Rose's continuing care.[6]Rose died in 1996.

Development

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The play was reworked from one of Williams' short stories "Portrait of a Girl in Glass" (1943; published 1948).[7]The story is also written from the point of view of narrator Tom Wingfield, and many of his soliloquies fromThe Glass Menagerieseem lifted straight from this original. Certain elements have been omitted from the play, including the reasons for Laura's fascination with Jim's freckles (linked to a book that she loved and often reread,FrecklesbyGene Stratton-Porter). Generally, the story contains the same plot as the play, with certain sections given more emphasis, and character details edited (for example, in the story, Jim nicknames Tom "Slim", instead of "Shakespeare"[7]). Another basis for the play is a screenplay Williams wrote under the title ofThe Gentleman Caller.Williams had been briefly contracted as a writer toMGM,and he apparently envisionedEthel BarrymoreandJudy Garlandfor the roles that eventually became Amanda and Laura, although when the play was eventually filmed in 1950,Gertrude Lawrencewas cast as Amanda andJane Wymanas Laura.

In 1944, after several reworkings, while touring on the road, the play arrived at theCivic Theatrein Chicago. The producers wanted more changes and were heavily pressuring Williams for a happy ending. The play had not found an audience and production was being considered for closing after the opening night in Chicago. Then the reviews by critics Ashton Stevens in TheChicago Herald-Americanand Claudia Cassidy in theChicago Tribunecame out. They praised the production, especially the writing and the performance by Laurette Taylor, with Cassidy writing about it several times. These reviews drove Chicago audiences to the Civic Theater and the play became a hit, propelling it to Broadway the next year.[8]

Adaptations

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Film

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TwoHollywood film versionsofThe Glass Menageriehave been produced.

Thefirst,released in 1950 and directed byIrving Rapper,starsGertrude Lawrence(Amanda),Jane Wyman(Laura),Arthur Kennedy(Tom) andKirk Douglas(Jim).[9]Williams characterized this version, which had an implied happy ending grafted onto it in the style of American films from that era, as the worst adaptation of his work.Bosley CrowtherofThe New York Timeswrote, "As much as we hate to say so, Miss Lawrence's performance does not compare with the tender and radiant creation of the lateLaurette Tayloron the stage. "[10]The film has never been released on home media.

In 1987, asecond adaptationwas released, directed byPaul Newmanand starringJoanne Woodward(Amanda),Karen Allen(Laura),John Malkovich(Tom) andJames Naughton(Jim). If anything, this was even less well-received than the earlier film and sank without much attention. However,The New York Timesreviewer noted it "starts stiffly and gets better as it goes along, with the dinner-party sequence its biggest success; in this highly charged situation, Miss Woodward's Amanda indeed seems to flower. But quiet reverence is its prevailing tone, and in the end, that seems thoroughly at odds with anything Williams ever intended."[11]Similar to the earlier incarnation, it has yet to receive a physical media release.

In 2004, anIndianadaptation of the play, filmed in theMalayalamlanguage, was released, titledAkale(At a Distance). Directed byShyamaprasad,the story is set in the southern Indian state of Kerala in the 1970s, in an Anglo-Indian/Latin Catholic household. The characters were renamed to fit context (the surname Wingfield was changed to D'Costa, reflecting the part-Portuguese heritage of the family — probably on the absent father's side, since the mother is Anglo-Indian), but the story remains essentially the same. It starsPrithviraj Sukumaranas Neil D'Costa (Tom Wingfield), Geethu Mohandas as Rosemary D'Costa (Laura Wingfield), Sheela as Margaret D'Costa (Amanda Wingfield) andTom George Kolathas Freddy Evans (Jim O'Connor). Sheela won theNational Film Award for Best Supporting Actress,and Geethu Mohandas won the Kerala State Film Award for the best actress.

The 2011 Iranian filmHere Without Meis also an adaptation of the play, in a contemporary Iranian setting.[12]

Radio

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The first radio adaptation was performed onTheatre Guild on the Airin 1951 starringHelen Hayesas Amanda withMontgomery Cliftas Tom,[13]Kathryn Baird as Laura andKarl Maldenas Jim.

A 1953 adaptation appeared on the radio seriesBest PlaysstarringEvelyn Vardenas Amanda andGeraldine Pageas Laura.Jane Wymanrecreated her film portrayal of Laura for a 1954 adaptation onLux Radio TheatrewithFay Bainteras Amanda andFrank Lovejoyas Tom andTom Brownas Jim. The 1953 version is not known to survive but recordings of the other two are in circulation.

In 1964,Caedmon Recordsproduced an LP version as the initial issue of its theatre series. The production starredJessica Tandyas Amanda,Montgomery Cliftas Tom,Julie Harrisas Laura andDavid Wayneas the gentleman caller. The recording is now available in the form of an audio app.

In 2020,BBC Radio 3adapted the play withAnastasia Hilleas Amanda,George MacKayas Tom,Patsy Ferranas Laura,Sope Dirisuas Jim. This version is available on the BBC iPlayer

Television

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The first television version, recorded onvideotapeand starringShirley Boothas Amanda, was broadcast on December 8, 1966, as part ofCBS Playhouse.Barbara Lodenplayed Laura,Hal Holbrookplayed Tom andPat Hingleplayed the Gentleman Caller.[14]Booth was nominated for an Emmy for her performance. The videotape, long thought to be lost, was reconstructed from unedited takes found in the archives of the University of Southern California and an audio recording of the original telecast. On December 8, 2016—fifty years to the day after the original telecast—a re-assembled version of the play was shown on TCM.[15]

Asecond television adaptationwas broadcast onABCon December 16, 1973, starringKatharine Hepburnas Amanda,Sam Waterstonas Tom,Joanna Milesas Laura andMichael Moriartyas Jim. It was directed byAnthony Harvey.(Tom's initial soliloquy is cut from this version; it opens with him walking alone in an alley, sitting on a rampart to read the newspaper and having his sister's and mother's voices conjure up the first domestic scene.) All four actors were nominated forEmmy Awards,with Moriarty and Miles winning.

Later stage productions

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The Glass Menageriehas had several Broadway revivals.Maureen Stapleton,Anne Pitoniak,Jessica Tandy,Julie Harris,Jessica Lange,Judith Ivey,Harriet Harris,[16]Cherry Jones,Sally FieldandAmy Adamshave all portrayed Amanda Wingfield.

Awards

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Original Broadway Production (1945)

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Year Award Ceremony Category Nominee Result
1945 New York Drama Critic's Circle Best American Play Tennessee Williams Won

1994 Broadway Revival

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Year Award Ceremony Category Nominee Result
1995 Clarence Derwent Award Most Promising Female Performer Calista Flockhart Won
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play Kevin Kilner Nominated
Theatre World Award Calista Flockhart Won
Kevin Kilner Won

2013 Broadway Revival

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Year Award Ceremony Category Nominee Result
2014 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play Brian J. Smith Nominated
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play Celia Keenan-Bolger Won
Outstanding Music in a Play Nico Muhly Won
Drama League Award Distinguished Revival of a Play Won
Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Revival of a Play Won
Outstanding Actress in a Play Cherry Jones Won
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play Brian J. Smith Won
Theatre World Award Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in Theatre Celia Keenan-Bolger Won
Tony Award Best Revival of a Play Nominated
Best Actress in a Play Cherry Jones Nominated
Best Featured Actor in a Play Brian J. Smith Nominated
Best Featured Actress in a Play Celia Keenan-Bolger Nominated
Best Direction of a Play John Tiffany Nominated
Best Lighting Design of a Play Natasha Katz Won
Best Scenic Design of a Play Bob Crowley Nominated

2017 Broadway Revival

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Year Award Ceremony Category Nominee Result
2017 Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Actress in a Play Sally Field Nominated
Drama League Award Distinguished Performance Nominated
Tony Award Best Actress in a Play Nominated

References

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  1. ^"'The Glass Menagerie' by Tennessee Williams review: Fragile drama holds theater in tight spell ".Chicago Tribune.May 19, 2022.
  2. ^The Glass Menagerie, New Directions, reissued in 2011 with an Introduction by Tony Kusher,ISBN978-0-8112-1894-8
  3. ^"Past Awards, 1944-1945"Archived2009-07-10 at theWayback MachineNew York Drama Critics' Circle,accessed January 8, 2014
  4. ^Saddik, Annette J.Glass MenagerieThe Politics of Reputation: The Critical Reception of Tennessee Williams(books.google.com), Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1999,ISBN0838637728,p. 25
  5. ^Lyle Leverich, "Tom: The Unknown Tennessee Williams", W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. (April 1, 1997)ISBN0-393-31663-7
  6. ^Greenberg-Slovin, Naomi. "Notes from the Dramaturg". Program toThe Glass Menagerie.Everyman Theatre, Baltimore, 2013–14 season.
  7. ^ab"The Collected Stories of Tennessee Williams", New Directions, 1985, page 110,ISBN978-0-8112-1269-4
  8. ^Jones, Chris (2013).Bigger, brighter, louder: 150 years of Chicago theater as seen by Chicago Tribune critics.University of Chicago Press. pp.106–107.ISBN9780226059266.OCLC833574141.
  9. ^"The Glass Menagerie,1950 "Archived2014-01-08 at theWayback Machinetcm.com, accessed January 8, 2014
  10. ^Crowther, Bosley."Movie Review. 'The Glass Menagerie' (1950)"Archived2017-03-18 at theWayback MachineThe New York Times,September 29, 1950
  11. ^Maslin, Janet."Paul Newman Directs 'Glass Menagerie'"Archived2017-02-11 at theWayback MachineThe New York Times,October 23, 1987
  12. ^IMDB – Here Without me"Inja bedoone man".IMDb.July 13, 2011.Archivedfrom the original on April 6, 2012.RetrievedFebruary 5,2012.
  13. ^"'The Glass Menagerie', 51-09-16, Program # 80"Archived2015-12-02 at theWayback Machinedigitaldeliftp.com, accessed January 8, 2014
  14. ^"Tennessee Williams: 'The Glass Menagerie'. CBS Playhouse"archive.org, accessed January 8, 2014,
  15. ^Allman, Kevin."'Lost' version of The Glass Menagerie to screen on TCM Dec. 8 ".bestofneworleans.com.Archivedfrom the original on December 29, 2017.RetrievedApril 28,2018.
  16. ^Gans, Andrew."Harris and Harrison to Star in Guthrie 'Glass Menagerie'"Archived2014-01-08 at theWayback Machineplaybill.com, December 18, 2006
  17. ^"Theatricalia".Theatricalia.RetrievedMay 7,2022.
  18. ^"Tim's 'spare' Lear".Evening Telegraph.October 13, 1979. p. 28. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  19. ^"Theatres".The Guardian.October 19, 1979. p. 26. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  20. ^"Theatres".The Guardian.October 19, 1979. p.26. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  21. ^"Theatres"The Daily Telegraph.November 21, 1979. p. 35. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  22. ^"Theatres".Evening Standard.November 26, 1979. p. 18. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  23. ^Jones, Kenneth."Off-Broadway's Acclaimed Glass Menagerie Will Sparkle for Two Extra Weeks"Archived2014-01-08 at theWayback Machineplaybill.com, March 29, 2010
  24. ^Listing, 2013Archived2013-10-12 at theWayback MachineInternet Broadway Database
  25. ^Gans, Andrew and Hetrick, Adam."Broadway Revival of 'The Glass Menagerie', With Cherry Jones, Zachary Quinto and Celia Keenan-Bolger, Recoups"Archived2014-01-08 at theWayback Machineplaybill.com, January 7, 2014
  26. ^Hetrick, Adam."Hit Broadway Revival of 'The Glass Menagerie', With Cherry Jones, Zachary Quinto and Celia Keenan-Bolger, Concludes Feb. 23"Archived2014-05-19 at theWayback Machineplaybill.com, February 23, 2014
  27. ^Gans, Andrew.68th Annual Tony Awards Nominations Announced; Gentleman's Guide Leads the Pack "Archived2014-05-30 at theWayback Machineplaybill.com, April 29, 2014
  28. ^Gans, Andrew.2014 Annual "Drama Desk Awards Nominations Announced; 'Gentleman's Guide' Earns 12 Nominations"Archived2014-07-18 at theWayback Machineplaybill.com, April 25, 2014
  29. ^"The Glass Menagerie, with Joe Mantello and Sally Field, Opens March 9"Archived2017-03-12 at theWayback MachinePlaybill, March 9, 2017
  30. ^Gans. Andrew."Revival of 'The Glass Menagerie' Announces Broadway Closing Date"Archived2017-05-11 at theWayback MachinePlaybill, May 9, 2017
  31. ^Second Half Productions."The Glass Menagerie West End"[usurped]
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