Sarah Jansen | Writer | Editor | Web Geek

Tonight, QPAC's Cremorne Theatre will host the opening night of the Queensland Theatre Company's production of The Glass Menagerie, one of American playwright Tennessee Williams' best known works.

Now we all know that a show being on at the illustrious Queensland Performing Arts Complex definitely does not guarantee us audience members a good night out. The last two shows I saw there were utter, utter garbage. One was an adaptation of a classic 1980s film and one was a certain recent production of a certain world-famous opera that painfully extracted three and a half hours out of my life.

That said, and deep breaths taken, I think we're pretty safe with this one. Firstly, Tennessee Williams wrote it. Secondly, the meddlesome matriarch Amanda Wingfield is being played by veteran of the screen and stage Carol Burns. Thirdly Michael Futcher, a long time fixture on the Brisbane theatre scene as director and playwright, is directing.

Add to these capable hands assistant director Marcel Dorney and actors Conrad Coleby (best known to the masses as a cute ambo on All Saints) and Helen Cassidy, and we can all rest easy in our comfy QPAC seats.

The Glass Menagerie was written in a time of change in America. World War II was over and there was a new mood in society that was, as always reflected in the theatre. According to a contemporary theatre reviewer, "the mainstream of Broadway was essentially a realistic tradition." Then along came Williams.

Many theatre buffs were agreeably surprised by this more dreamlike "memory play", including Anton Chekov who “...was young and not prepared for a stage language in an American play of such exquisite lyricism.”

The word "lyrical" comes up a lot when people discuss Tennessee Williams.

As well as the beautiful words, Menagerie, like many of Williams' plays, includes copious stage and lighting directions. It is said that he included these because he was concerned that there wasn't enough hard plot to communicate his intentions to the director.

It is a semi-autobiographical story of an overbearing mother, a shy and disturbed daughter who spends her days playing with the glass animals of the title, and a dreaming son who wants to be left alone to write poetry, and if he can't do that, wants to run away to sea. Williams' own sister suffered from chronic mental illness and he actually did run away with the navy.

The parallels end there, however, hence the semi-autobiographicality. For example, the Wingfields of the play are in financial hardship whereas the Williamses never were.

The Glass Menagerie is showing from tonight until 11 August 2007.

Tickets are $26 to $56

Performances are captioned at 7.30pm Friday 27 July and 2.00pm Saturday 28 July 2007.

For further information, see QTC's website.

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