The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie is a memory play, supposedly loosely auto biographical, about the Wingfield family
comprising mother, daughter and son. Father absent due to having been lured away by the promise of a more
exciting life elsewhere. Tom, the breadwinning brother is a stymied artistic soul and Laura, the painfully
introverted daughter are presided over by the formidable Amanda, who bullishly shapes their lives, believing
she is acting in their best interests but failing dreadfully to notice their unease and unhappiness.

Amanda Wingfield, played by Jennifer Wallis Getcheffsky (What a great name!), swings between devoting
mother and over-bearing nag. Her desire to ensure her children have a better life than she did, borders on
neglect of the feelings and true wants of her children. It’s heartbreaking and Jennifer pulls this off beautifully.
The role is a tour de force and her fluctuation between the brutal reality of her situation and the illusionary
world she conjures for herself of her past as a southern belle and picturing the same for her daughter, was
played brilliantly and confidently.

It seemed Callum Johnston, was an uneasy actor on his first appearances as Tom Wingfield, but his delivery
and character were so appealing that the nervous energy lent something wonderful to Tom. His frustration
was believable, as was his torn desires- to stay and be a loyal and loving son and brother or to follow his heart
as an adventurous creative. His accent and drunk were convincing and his whole demeanour was engagingly
period. Well done.

Laura Wingfield was a delight. Perfectly played by Eva Murray. The voice and physical characterisation were
fantastic. This was a multi-faceted performance, light on script but so much said in performance. I look forward
to seeing more of this actress.
Jack Findlow’s Jim was sweet and charming, as he should be. The self-admonishment after the kiss was very
credible and heartfelt. Congratulations.

The direction of the action by Pete Curran and assisted by Freia Reidel-Fischer, was well executed. The layout
of the set was great and the stoop and stairs used effectively. There were a few troubling decisions regarding
certain aspects of the production that could have been so easily rectified though and would have really lifted
the creative part to the level of the cast. One erroneous detail, perhaps a modern tablecloth in a period setting
is not something normally noted or discussed heavily, but as there were several inaccurate choices, it feels
wrong not to mention it. Perhaps a longer more appropriate dressing gown would have not only looked far
better but may have allowed Amanda to have crease-free costumes for most of the play and surely some
1930s shoes would have finished off the look better than the glitter pumps. There was a strange choice of
crockery; modern square plates and heavy cut glass flutes for wine, not to mention modern cushions,
conference room chairs, fake books and stage weights holding shelves down. But the strangest choice was the
half mime. Maybe something was amiss with props, maybe I missed a concept but miming a whole coffee cup
when you provide realistic cigarettes or miming a pen or chewing gum but getting rid of it in a real tissue just
confused. Not attending to these small but important details is a shame, when the performance was so solid. It
makes all the difference.

Although we had a sister with crippling shyness and a slight disability (which in the era was debilitating socially
and had affected her confidence as to render her almost reclusive) and a deserted, fading southern belle with
no real hopes for the future, it was the trapped and tragic Tom that we felt the most for. You are left thinking
perhaps everything would have turned out differently had their upbringing been different.
In essence, the cast created a wonderful and heartbreaking atmosphere and confidently brought some
complex and realistic characters to life, which inspired a lot of post-performance discussion on the way home.
Well done!

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