Hungarian director László Bérczes tackles one of the great American classics The Glass Menagerie. Resonating with love, loss, bitterness and heartache, Tennessee Williams’s renowned tragedy begins previews tomorrow at The Shaw’s Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre.

Narrator and aspiring poet Tom Wingfield (André Sills) recalls growing up in a Depression-era Midwest apartment with his shy sister Laura (Julia Course) and their overbearing mother Amanda (Allegra Fulton). Yearning to escape his stifling home and family obligations, Tom pins his hopes on Laura’s ‘gentleman caller’ (Jonathan Tan), only to be forever haunted by the devastating outcome of their encounter.  

Reflecting Tom’s recall of a vanished past, Balázs Cziegler’s set design is an on-stage labyrinth mixing reality and metaphor. While Tom is able to maneuver from one moment to the next, the rest of the cast is trapped in time, forever preserved in memory. Costumes by Hanne Loosen suggest 1930’s America with hints of the contemporary, while lighting by Mikael Kangas complements and amplifies Tom’s trek through his memories.

The Glass Menagerie is on stage at the Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre (10 Queen’s Parade, Niagara-on-the-Lake) from May 22 to October 12. 

The Shaw Festival’s 2019 season is on stage April 6 through December 22 featuring a playbill that includes The Horse and His Boy, Brigadoon, The Ladykillers, Man and Superman with Don Juan in Hell, Rope, Getting Married, The Russian Play, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Glass Menagerie, Sex, Victory, Secret Theatre, A Christmas Carol and Holiday Inn. Tickets for the 2019 Festival season are available through the Box Office at 1-800-511-SHAW and online at www.shawfest.com.

Photo: Julia Course. © 2018 David Cooper.