The Glass Menagerie

[low_delta]

Saw it for the first time tonight. One my least favorite plays!

The first act was a combination of dull and annoying. The mother is an annoying harpy. Her son is strong, and tries halfheartedly to fight it until he can leave, and the daughter is weak and can only take it.

The second half shows a gentleman caller interested in the shy and anxious daughter.

The ending is even bleaker than the rest of the play.

Comments

[ravenfeather.livejournal.com]

:)

I love the play, but then I lived parts of it. Nobody talked about such things, so a play that showed them was amazing. Not necessarily GOOD, but...

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

I see it's one of those your mileage may vary things.

[therobertpaul.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you'll want to avoid The Seagull, too.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

I have seen it live once. I've watched a couple of presentations of it on various media. I totally agree with you, it's bleak. That is a very appropriate adjective.

I find most of his work bleak, actually.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

I don't have a problem with bleak, exactly. But this seemed bleak and pointless.

[ravengirl.livejournal.com]

lol Yeah, I'm not fond of that play, either. Nor the film. I like some Tennessee Williams, but this one is just a tale of stupidity and frustration to me!

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

What Williams do you like?

[ravengirl.livejournal.com]

The film version of Sweet Bird of Youth. I wish I could have seen the play with Geraldine Page, and I'm happy she got the film role, as well, because that isn't always the case from stage to screen. Geraldine Page is my all-time favorite actress and, when I started working at NU, I met one of her sons, Jon, who is still a friend. You'd think I'd be thrilled, but I've never ever talked to him about his family! It seems rude and weird, esp. his mom, who is long dead, and his dad, who has... some problems that are public. And a cousin, Sissy Spacek. Although, one day, I was listening to The Lemonheads at work and Jon commented that he had just been to a party with Evan Dando and continued to tell me of their hijinks. *snort* OK, then.

The film Period of Adjustment was a fun one, actually, and I don't know when I realized it was written by Williams, as it's not his usual fare.

In fact, I like a lot of the screen versions of his plays-- Streetcar and Hot Tin Roof-- despite the southernness strangeness-- are still great movies, I think. And The Rose Tattoo is fantastic-- it might be my favorite Williams, actually. Night of the Iguana is good.

Something I didn't like is Baby Doll. Gross.
And Suddenly, Last Summer sucks. lol

I've also seen some of these plays onstage, but not any big productions.

[eyelid.livejournal.com]

Why did you go if you don't like the play? Or did you not know in advance?

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

We subscribe, so we get five plays per year. We only skip them if we're sure we don't want to see them, which never happens. I knew nothing about this play, except that it was a classic.

[serendipity.livejournal.com]

It's been a long time since I've seen the Glass Menagerie. Mostly these days I tend to seek out lighter entertainment and might not enjoy this play as much as I did way back when. I definitely remember the bleakness, but also something of its power and insight into complex individuals and family relationships. The fact that it was autobiographical makes it even sadder - although fortunately for all of us the playwright managed to extricate himself from his family and share his talent with the world.

I didn't realize that the play is currently on Broadway with Sally Field. I also looked up a couple of reviews for the Milwaukee production. (See also: https://onmilwaukee.com/ent/articles/reviewglassmenagerie.html)