As a memory play, “The Glass Menagerie” is often called “theater of the mind.” And OpenStage’s ruminative interpretation of Tennessee Williams’ masterpiece is nothing if not a window into the distinct (if oft-meddling) mind of director Peter Anthony.
His Wingfield living room sits at a steep angle, a chair hangs in suspension, the fire escape leads upward to nowhere and the looming portrait of the escaped family patriarch is nothing but cracked glass and tin foil.
This slightly askew set not only fits within the abstract nature of memory, but it nicely (yet not overpoweringly) accents the idea that these aristocratic Old Southerners are now obsolete outcasts, barely existing on the fringes of 1930s St. Louis.
Anthony has such a distinct presentational style, he runs the risk of overly interjecting himself into anything he stages. But from the understated performances he elicits, to (most of) the theatrical devices he employs, this presentation shows uncharacteristic restraint, which allows the ephemeral and inexpressibly melancholy atmosphere Williams imagined to prevail.
“The Glass Menagerie,” first performed in 1944, is the sad story of faded Southern belle Amanda Wingfield (Denise Burson Freestone) and her desperate attempt to find a mate for her debilitatingly shy daughter Laura (Soleil Collette Lean), who’s more an emotional than a physical cripple.
The story is told as remembered by narrator son Tom (Tomas Herrera), a trapped and sexually conflicted ex- sailor with little hope of escape. He promises to take us “back to that quaint period, the ’30s” — though for the life of me, I’ve never known why.
Tom’s really taking us back to the most desperate economic time in our nation’s history — and to a chapter in the Wingfield family annals that none of them should want to relive.
But if Tom must, it’s refreshing to see him portrayed as Herrera does — Tom’s words dripping with antipathy and regret and yet never without heart. He hovers over the action and mingles in it, even when not physically present, as if he could be the ghost of his own father.
“The Glass Menagerie” was to be one of the world’s first multimedia plays, first calling for funky slide projections of illustrative phrases and images. The idea was to remove the story from the realistic realm, without escaping the essential reality of it.
Williams smartly thought better of the visual clutter and scrapped it just in time to let Laurette Taylor’s Broadway performance speak for itself, paving the way for generations of unforgettable Amandas to come. Freestone, a treasure on the Fort Collins theater landscape for 35 years, offers us a powerfully human and surprisingly muted Amanda, shown here not as a grandiose matriarch but an unnervingly understandable one.
Anthony’s boldest stamp, to questionable effect, is enhanced sound effects that constantly cause key bits of dialogue (often transposed from other parts of the play) to echo and reverberate. It seems his attempt to zoom in and out of characters’ heads.
His smartest decision: to ignore Williams’ confounding instructions that call for actors to mime certain props, like food, but not others (which frankly, looks silly). By playing it with full props, Anthony keeps our heads squarely rooted in the train wreck that unfolds when Tom invites co-worker Jim to dinner in the lost hope he’ll take to a sister who’s just too delicate for this world.
In multiple viewings of this play, I’ve yet to see on stage the Jim that Williams calls for: blunt, sexually aggressive and emotionally stunted. A somewhat uncomfortable Andrew Miller plays Jim as a budding salesman and top-drawer nice guy who’s completely unaware of the impact his kind attention is having on Laura.
This is a production with a strong sense of time and place, with real tension and grinding hopelessness set against an undercurrent of musical tenderness.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“The Glass Menagerie” *** (out of four stars)
Presented by OpenStage Theatre & Company at the Lincoln Center, 417 W. Magnolia St., Fort Collins. Through Jan. 30. 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. $13-$20. 970-221-6730 or
This weekend’s best bet: “The Meeting”
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the new Afterthought Theater Company presents Jeff Stetson’s “The Meeting,” a one-night-only play that asks “what if” King and Malcolm X had met. The play, to be presented Saturday, is a fictional dialogue between two men who changed our nation and the world. Tickets are $35 and include a buffet dinner beginning at 6 p.m. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. and runs 70 minutes without intermission. Starring Cris Davenport as King and Joseph Fuqua Jones as Malcolm X. At the Shadow Theatre, 1468 Dayton St., Aurora, 720-857-8000 or . John Moore
This weekend’s theater openings
“All in the Timing” David Ives’ collection of fast and funny plays about time, human connections and the absurdities of daily life. Through Feb. 21. Backstage Theatre, 121 S. Ridge St., Breckenridge, 970-453-0199 or
“All My Sons” Arthur Miller’s masterpiece about a son who informs on his father for selling faulty parts to the U.S. military, which later caused the deaths of 21 soldiers during World War II. Through Feb. 6. California Actors Theatre, Twin Peaks Mall, Longmont, 303-774-1842 or
“Auntie Mame” In this family drama, Mame Dennis has had one adventure after another, and she wants nephew Patrick to live life to the fullest as well. Through Feb. 21. Vintage Theatre, 2119 E. 17th Ave., 303-839-1361 or
“Barefoot in the Park” Lyndsay Giraldi-Palmer and real-life husband Jeremy Palmer play newlyweds moving into their “dream” home in the latest offering from the local handicapped theater company called PHAMALy. Through Jan. 31. Aurora Fox, 9900 E. Colfax Ave., 303-739-1970, 303-575-0005 or
“Cats” National touring production of Andrew Lloyd Lloyd Webber’s celebration of felines and T.S. Eliot poetry. Through Sunday. Buell Theatre, 14th and Curtis streets, 303-893-4100 or
“Habeas Corpus”Alan Bennett takes permissive society to task through a maze of mistaken identities and comical sexual encounters. Through Feb 28. Miners Alley Playhouse, 1224 Washington St., Golden, 303-935-3044 or
“I Do! I Do!”Musical following Michael and Agnes from their their wedding-night jitters through growing old together. Through Jan. 24. Jester’s Dinner Theatre, 224 Main St., Longmont, 303-682-9980 or
“Me, My Stuff and I” Barry Smith’s disturbingly funny yet inspiring multimedia comedy about our relationship with … stuff. Through Sunday. Manitou Art Theatre, 1367 Pecan St., Colorado Springs, 719-465-6321 or
“Parallel Lives” Sketch comedy in which two women play a multitude of characters struggling through the rituals of everyday life: teenagers on a date; sisters at their grandmother’s funeral and more. Through Jan. 31. Evergreen Players, 27608 Fireweed Drive, 303-674-4934 or
“Roller Skating With My Cousin” An experimental theater company’s original, mash-up look at the history of the world “from creation through the sexual revolutionary act of roller skating.” Through Feb. 20. To read a script sample, go to . Presented by the LIDA Project at the Bindery Space, 2180 Stout St., 720-221-3821 or
“The Secret Garden”Musical based on the enchanting children’s novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It’s the tale of a young orphan sent to live with her uncle who discovers the treasures of a magical, locked garden. Through March 7. Union Colony Diner Theatre, 802 9th Ave., Greeley, 970-352-2900 or
“Unforgettable” Consummate showman Leonard E. Barrett, best known for his galvanizing performances with the handicapped theater company PHAMALy, performs songs of Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke and more. Fridays only through Feb. 26. Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret, 16th and Arapahoe streets, 303-293-0075 or
“Your Dilly Dilly Heart” A new comedy by Denver’s Scott Gibson about a boy who wants to tell his high-school girlfriend all the things left unsaid when he was sent away to a juvenile work farm. To read a sample, . Through Feb 13. Presented by Celebrationworks at the McGlone Center, 1420 Ogden St., 303-282-5391 or
“You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” A musical day in the life of the beloved characters created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz in his comic strip, “Peanuts.” Through Jan. 31. Presented by Gravity Defied at the Aurora Fox, 9900 E. Colfax Ave., 303-325-3959 or
Compiled by John Moore
Complete theater listings
Go to our complete list of in Colorado, including summaries, run dates, addresses, phones and links to every company’s home page. Or check out our listings or
The Running Lines blog
Catch up on John Moore’s roundup of theater news and dialogue:
