THEATER REVIEW: ‘Glass’ comes to life

The play that introduced Tennessee Williams to the theatergoing world, “The Glass Menagerie,” is receiving an excellent production in Laguna Beach from the Gallimaufry Performing Arts company.

Delicately staged by director Steve Josephson, as befits its fragile memory play status, this 1944 gem sparkles anew, bolstered by four beautifully realized performances.

“The Glass Menagerie” is Williams’ account of his early days of emotional and economic privation in St. Louis with his onetime Southern belle mother and his slightly crippled sister (whose eventual lobotomy inspired Williams’ “Suddenly, Last Summer”). The playwright speaks through his central character, Tom Wingfield, a young warehouse worker determined to break his familial and employment bonds and seek his fortune. But first, his mother insists, he must find a suitable husband for his painfully shy sister, Laura.

In the Gallimaufry production, Ryan L.B. Fisher portrays Tom with a poetic sincerity that bolsters his one-on-one relationship with the audience. Fisher brings a captivating vulnerability to the role that offsets his angry outbursts.

Julie Gibson Josephson is marvelous as Amanda, the doting mother who lives in the past with her memories of “gentleman callers” and armfuls of jonquils. Josephson takes a familiar character and fully inhabits it with her own style and movement, relying less on an accurate accent than on profound characterization.

The pretty but childlike daughter, panicked by the appearance of her high school crush, is beautifully enacted by Vanessa Ray. This is a difficult role, without the heaping portions of dialogue enjoyed by Tom and Amanda, which must be primarily conveyed physically, and Ray accomplishes this task superbly.

As the “gentleman caller” who sparks a brief flame in Laura’s heart, Matthew Sikes completes a perfectly chosen cast. Sikes projects charm and confidence without being overtly brash and at the same time represents a harsh dose of reality for a family smothered in dreamlike fantasy.

The fragmentary setting by J.W. Layne (which must be conveyed to Laguna Woods for the final two performances) is well designed and Stuart A. Fabel’s pinpoint lighting effects are particularly admirable. Paul Bowles’ original production music lends an atmospheric beauty, enhanced by Drew Reusch’s costumes.

TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Coastline Pilot.