By Siddarth Puri
Daily Bruin Reporter
[email protected]
A tale of trust, deception and memories comes to UCLA’s
Macgowan Hall this week.
The plight of a family’s disintegration, the fight between
reality and illusion and the struggles between confinement and
freedom are all played out in Tennessee Williams play, “The
Glass Menagerie.” Although the student performers remain
faithful to the original plot, UCLA’s rendition uses
different lighting and music in hopes of relating it to a more
contemporary era.
Directed by Master of Fine Arts directing candidate David
Gerson, the play recounts the Wingfield family’s struggle to
survive in their 1937 St. Louis apartment. The story is narrated by
Tom as he tells the tale of the survival of his mother, Amanda, and
his sister, Laura, after being abandoned by their father.
“Tennessee Williams is a beautiful writer who gives
specific directions for the play and creates well plotted
characters,” said Rebecca Rainboldt, a first-year theater
student who plays Laura. “His plays often realistically
reflect the humanity of characters and it makes it easier for the
audience to relate to them as well as see themselves in the same
position.”
The story centers on Amanda’s incessant nagging on Tom to
support the family and become successful as well as her glorious
dreams of Laura, who is extremely shy and slightly lame in one leg,
finding a suitable and successful suitor.
“I was interested in portraying human beings on stage,
their interactions and what makes them human,” said Gerson.
“Williams’ plays often reveal what it is like to live
and therefore I wanted to use his plays to project my
thoughts.”
The play, constructed as a “memory play,” is
introduced as Tom’s memory of past events. Both the style and
content of “Menagerie” are shaped and inspired by
retrospection.
“There is a tremendous effect by performing the play in
the aspect of memory,” said Gerson. “The set that we
have created is a large, portal-like room where all of Tom’s
memories come out of and affect him.”
Tom’s character and his perspective are not the only
important components of the play; other characters enhance the play
as well. According to Gerson, because of the other
characters’ precision and development, they are people whom
audience members can see themselves talking to or interacting
with.
“The characters reveal something pertinent about how we
live our lives, said Gerson. “They show how we can love and
hate each other at the same time in familial and other
relationships. It’s fascinating to see how a mother can love
a son so dearly, yet drive him away.”
Williams had written the play with specific directing techniques
such as lighting and music to enhance the themes and lure the
audience into a world permeated by family argumentation and
development. Gerson, however, has altered the original score and
scenery to create a more modern stage.
“I have worked closely with the design manager to modify
the play’s set,” said Gerson. “We are using
practical lighting along with soft stage lights as well as
composing new musical pieces to make the scenes of the play jump
forward into our time so people can further relate to the
story.”
From the intricate interactions of characters to the setting and
stage, along with the thematic implications, “The Glass
Menagerie” is a play that Williams wrote to open
people’s eyes to a non-realistic form of theater, according
to Olivia McManus, a first-year musical theater student.
“The play’s imagery and theme are the first things
that attracted me to perform in it,” said Rainboldt.
“The family’s interactions are also amazing in the play
““ it’s always interesting to watch a family try so hard
to love each other and not be able to.”