The Valley Players will present a classic of the American theater this fall, “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams, with shows on weekends September 29 through October 15 at the Valley Players Theater, 4254 Main Street (Route100), in Waitsfield. Show times will be Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.
This hauntingly poetic play tells of a single mother and her two adult children struggling to get by in Depression-era St. Louis. Amanda Wingfield (Kitty Coyne, Waterbury), raised in Southern gentility and abandoned by her husband, now tries desperately to provide for her disabled daughter Laura (Lindsay Repka, Middlebury) and adventure-seeking son Tom (Matthew Grant Winston, Montpelier). In spite of her best efforts, Amanda succeeds more in distancing her children from her, with Laura retreating into her own imaginary world and Tom plotting to escape the "prison" he sees himself in. The cast also includes Michael Smith (Cambridge, VT) as Jim, a high school acquaintance of Laura’s.
Directed by Michael Halloran (Barre) with assistant director Ashley Hall (Warren) the play grapples with questions of family loyalty as well as the fragile illusions we live by, which can so easily be shattered. “Williams, by holding each of his characters up to the light like one of Laura’s glass figurines, presents four characters in conflict both with each other and with themselves, and does it in a compassionate yet unflinchingly honest way,” said Halloran. “There are no villains or heroes in this story, only people trying their best in an impossible situation.”
The show is produced by Ruth Ann Pattee (Fayston), with lighting design by Irene Halibozek (Williston) and costume design by Catie Smith (Cambridge). Tickets are available through theaterengine.com or by calling 802-583-4220. For more details on this production and information about the Valley Players, go to valleyplayers.com.
