THE GLASS MENAGERIE Previews (2017 Revival) — Page 5

2 hours, 5 minutes

newintown, your comment got some traction on Tumblr for how unbelievably offensive it is. Congrats!

Hey, it's more traction than I get on my tumblr (which is nonexistent)

I'm disabled and I am not offended by your post at all. I definitely understand what you were understanding and I appreciate it.

At that said, I'm very disappointed by reviews, especially with Madison. and I'm going to forget this one. BTW: Do you think Madison's new Laura is under Sam Gold's direction?

Thank you very much, disneybroadwayfan22, that's an unexpectedly nice thing to read on here.

Having seen this performance, I don't think I would describe her Laura as bitter or cold in any way. If anything, Gold's direction makes Laura a nonentity, defined almost entirely by her disability. (I agree with Whizzer that it often feels exploitative). I think that a stronger actress might have been able to overcome this, but Ferris isn't there.

Overall I found this to be a conceptual mess. I agree with the poster who said all four actors feel like they're in different productions. Sally Field would probably make a great Amanda somewhere else but not in this version. Joe Mantello is really too old for Tom, and his performance made the character feel inconsequential (or perhaps I can't get Zachary Quinto's interpretation out of my head.) Finn Wittrock is overeager, like a puppy, and it takes away from the emotional impact of Jim's scene with Laura. I had tears streaming down my face during that scene in the 2013 production but last night I felt nothing. That being said, Madison Ferris really does come off too amateurish, and having Laura being played by someone in a wheelchair takes away from the character as she was intended. How are we to believe she spends her days walking around town instead of going to business school, or that she has a disability that Amanda claims is hardly noticeable, if we're spending long moments of the play watching the actress getting in and out of her wheelchair?

There's no sense and time or place, and the playing space is just way too big for this play. I always felt like The Glass Menagerie is a bit of a claustrophobic play, and setting it on a bare stage makes it too cold and distant. I didn't understand the point of the house lights remaining on for the first half hour, nor did I understand the point of making it rain on stage. I've been a fan of Sam Gold's in the past but this just felt like he threw everything at the wall to see what sticks. None of it makes sense for The Glass Menagerie as it's written. It's a brilliant play, and Gold should've trusted the material.

This is my favorite play and I'm so sorry to hear it's back with such mixed results. I too am still haunted by the Tiffany production.

Initially, I liked the idea of Laura being played by an actress with a disability, but I wonder if it would have better results if the actress had a less physical disability. I'm thinking someone like Jamie Brewer. Then Amanda's dismissal of Laura's disability would be more believable

About ten years ago (possibly more) I saw Sally Field's Amanda at the Kennedy Center. She was the finest Amanda Wingfield I had ever seen and have since seen (including Cherry Jones). Her's was the only Amanda I could easily imagine as once the coquettish Southern belle with a room full of gentlemen callers. Her entire history was written on her performance. As she was probably too old for the role even then (though she's always had a youthful veneer) I was a little surprised she was returning to Amanda. But with such a fantastic director I was so sure her performance would be a triumph once again. I feel so bad for her that she seems to be, as reported, stuck in a mess of bad concepts. She really once was spectacular in that role.

Updated On: 2/10/17 at 11:09 AM

I'm not really understanding the insistence that Laura isn't really disabled. She most definitely has a limp, and anyone who magnifies the extent of their limp that much that they imagine people staring at them all the time/throw up at the thought of attending a college class pretty clearly has some sort of severe social anxiety disorder. Mental illness is just as much of a disability as a physical illness.

I apologize for using imprecise language, but, yes, clearly Laura has mental illness and clearly Laura has a limp. However, neither are the same as a physical disability requiring a wheelchair. I don't believe the play supports Laura having a physical disability that would require a wheelchair or another type physical aid for mobility.



I am aware this is a nonliteral take on the play, and certainly there are examples of casting that goes against the text in order to highlight something (see: the strapping Russell Tovey as Rudolpho in van Hove's View from the Bridge, done in order to comment on the psychology of Eddie). But I just can't wrap my mind around this casting as of now.

Updated On: 2/10/17 at 11:47 AM

It's a sad fact that in the 1930's unless you were a young woman from very wealthy means, if you were wheelchair bound and living with your single mother you probably would be expected to the live the rest of your life as a ward of your parent. When Amanda tells Laura that her "defect" is barely noticeable it's baffling in this production. Being in a wheelchair is noticeable in any time period, but especially when coming from a poor family in the South in the 1930's. As others have mentioned, Laura walks around town when she should be at class; Amanda forcefully nags Laura to run an errand at one point and after seeing how long it took Laura to climb the stairs to their apartment earlier, Amanda comes across as downright cruel.

When Laura simply has a limp her mental issues are more pronounced because she's imagining that the limp is a greater hindrance to having a "normal" life than it is. If Laura literally can't walk then she's not imaging anything at all. She (shamefully) would be an outcast in the environment in which she is living. This idea twists Williams' intentions in ways that were, well not intended.

Perhaps we could forgive some of this if Ferris were giving an absolutely transporting performance, but as it stands she's not, which only amplifies the problem and makes it feel all the more like exploitation.