Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Hearts of glass

The Glass Menagerie, is one of the most-performed family dramas of the 20th century. It’s also a tough play; its story has a real emotional bite. The 1944 play, which launched the superstardom of playwright Tennessee Williams, tells the story of an all-too-believable dysfunctional family: a reclusive daughter, a restless son and an overbearing mother. They go through turmoil when their daughter receives a gentleman caller.

This will be Rep alumni Jeff Albright’s first time directing “The Glass Menagerie”—a daunting task. There are no definite climaxes, no moments of catharsis. “This play doesn’t explode, but life isn’t always a bunch of big explosions,” said Albright, who is familiar with the challenge of bringing Williams to life in Toledo, having played Big Daddy Pollitt in the Rep’s 2008 production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. In that production, he shared the stage with Kate Abu-Absi, who will play Amanda, the overbearing mother in The Glass Menagerie.

A glass cougar

Albright’s own life shares parallels with that of Amanda. “The play takes place in 1937—my maternal grandmother was widowed in 1937 […] she had a boy and a girl, like Amanda,” Albright said. Maybe that’s why he has taken special considerations for the character. He decided to cast the younger Abu-Absi although the part usually casts a more senior actress. “Part of making Amanda not a villain is understanding that she’s a woman who, in her prime, is left alone and has no options. I think of my grandmother; she was a young women who had to fend for herself and raise [her children.]”

That decision paid in surprising ways, Albright said. He related one particular scene that he believes will interest the audience. “There’s a moment when Amanda and The Gentleman Caller are together on a bed, where it’s achingly sort of like ‘Summer of '42’  or ‘The Graduate,’ with an older women and a younger man. There's a moment of sexual energy where if the character is played by an older woman, it could be pathetic. But when it’s played by a younger woman, there’s vitality left.”

A fragile tension

Albright’s familiarity with the cast comes from his direction of The Rep's 2010 production of “Chapter 2,” which featured Abu-Absi alongside Elizabeth Cottle, who play the fragile daughter, Laura. “To me, Elizabeth was born to play this role,” Albright said. “It came down to a fragility to her person that isn’t pathetic.”

Cottle has never seen The Glass Menagerie performed, which might work in her favor. “Not having seen it before gives me the options to interpret it as I like. I have myself to go on and Jeff's wonderful direction,” Cottle said. “My biggest challenge is finding the vulnerability about her character. […] There’s an extreme genuine part of her.”

Cottle’s other challenge will be holding her own with Abu-Absi. “I look up to Kate as an actress; so in this show, having her play my mother almost creates a familial quality, but also a very subtle competitive edge,” she said.

All of this tension—familial, sexual and dramatic—will collide when “The Glass Menagerie” plays for two weekends. Abu-Abisi and Cottle will join James MacFarlane as Tom on the stage. With the commitment of Albright, Cottle and the rest of the cast and crew, it promises to be a strong rendition of an American classic.

“The Glass Menagerie” premieres Friday, April 4, and runs through Sunday, April 13. Shows: 8pm Thursday-Saturday; 2:30pm Sunday. $20, $18 seniors, $10 students, $5 children. The Toledo Repertoire Theatre, 16 10th St. 419-243-9277. toledorep.org.

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