Theatre Dept. stages "The Glass Menagerie"

 The play that boosted Tennessee Williams to one of the most prominent perches in 20th century American theatre will be the first Walter Gloor Mainstage Series production of the new year at SUNY Fredonia. The Glass Menagerie, a heartbreaking story of familial love and the danger of good intentions, will open in Bartlett Theatre at Rockefeller Arts Center on Friday, Feb. 17 at 8 p.m.

In photo: Haruna Tsuchiya as Amanda, and Steve Copps as Jim.
 
A production of the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance and directed by SUNY Fredonia Professor of Theatre Mary Charbonnet, The Glass Menagerie can also be seen on Saturday, Feb. 18 and Thursday, Feb. 23 to Saturday, Feb. 25 at 8 p.m. A matinee performance will be held on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 2 p.m.
 
The Glass Menagerie focuses on the emotional and financial difficulties of a small St. Louis family. The mother, Amanda (played by senior Kaela Altman-Smith if Queensbury, NY, an acting major), is a faded Southern belle who, long abandoned by her husband, lives in poverty with her two adult children, Tom (junior James Stadt of Fairport, NY, an acting major) and Laura (senior Haruna Tsuchiya of Shizuoka-Ken, Japan, a musical theatre major).
 
Amanda is eager to see her offspring succeed — and success, by her measure, is a staid and sober life for Tom and a secure marriage for Laura. Unfortunately, Tom is a dreamer who yearns to experience more than the tiresome rigidity of his shoe factory job and Laura is so morbidly shy that any type of social pressure can literally make her sick.
 
At Amanda’s insistence, Tom invites an acquaintance from work, Jim (senior Steve Copps of East Syracuse, NY, a musical theatre major), to dinner in an effort to introduce his socially inept sister to an eligible bachelor — a decision that leads to the greatest joy and deepest tragedy in this intensely powerful work.
 
The Glass Menagerie was first performed in Chicago in 1944. It moved to Broadway in 1945 and earned the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award. For tickets, call the Central Ticket Office on campus at 716-673-3501.