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The Glass Menagerie

By Tennessee Williams | Directed by Chanel Bragg

Amanda lives in an illusion of recapturing her faded Southern Belle glory. Her daughter Laura lives in a fantasy world of delicate glass figurines, and her son Tom dreams poetically of a world beyond the back stoop. When Tom brings home a Gentleman Caller to meet his sister, The Glass Menagerie weaves these lives into a heart-stopping dance of hopes pursued and dreams betrayed. Considered by many to be Tennessee Williams’ greatest play, The Glass Menagerie is an achingly beautiful story of longing and love that has touched generations of theatergoers with its sparkling, delicate radiance.

  • "'Menagerie' is one of the best plays of the last century. It is timeless and tragic, funny and thoughtful. This ATC production reminds us why a visit with the Wingfields will never get old."
    - Arizona Daily Star
  • "It takes an astute director and a solid acting ensemble to elicit our empathy. Tom Wingfield is not only Tennessee's stand-in; the entire cast is all of us."
    - BroadwayWorld

About Tennessee Williams

Thomas Lanier Williams was born on March 26, 1911, in Columbus, Mississippi, to parents Cornelius and Edwina Dakin Williams. From an early age, Thomas, often called Tom, felt he did not belong anywhere. His father was often abusive, repeatedly taunting his son as a “sissy boy.” Edwina was a woman desperately holding onto a southern gentility that was out of place in her current environment, similar to Amanda from The Glass Menagerie. Of his two siblings, Rose and Dakin, Tom formed a very close attachment to his sister Rose, a woman with deep emotional problems who would eventually be diagnosed with schizophrenia. Continue Reading

What is a Memory Play?

The Glass Menagerie is often described as a memory play. Just what does that mean? In the stage directions Tennessee Williams writes “The scene is memory and is therefore nonrealistic. Memory takes a lot of poetic license. It omits some details, others are exaggerated, according to the emotional value of the articles it touches, for memory is seated predominantly in the heart.” Continue Reading

Time Frame of The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie takes place in 1937, during The Great Depression. The Depression had been ongoing for some time and its effects were widespread and deeply felt by the American public. Click here for a list of additional events that were happening, including Billie Holiday gaining popularity and The Golden Gate Bridge …


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