Brimming with poetic language and indelible characters, this play about the enduring but limiting nature of love and family made Tennessee Williams a household name. The Glass Menagerie centers on an innocuous visit from a potential suitor that unsettles the sheltered Wingfield family. Matriarch Amanda fiercely protects her adult children from the harshness of others, but doesn’t realize that her own eccentricities are the biggest threat to their psychological survival. Enjoy this timeless theatrical classic, directed by Geoff Elliott at Pasadena’s A Noise Within.
"...Elliott's intention to distinguish his Glass Menagerie from the thousands that have preceded it is evident from our first glimpse of a stage occupied only by a fire-escape-like staircase, a display of glass figurines, a Victrola, a manual typewriter, and most intriguingly, an empty wheelchair and narrow horizontal screen filled with black-and-white images from TV's golden era." Read Full Review
Steven Stanley
CurtainUp - Highly Recommended
"...The production's build-up toward the visit of the Gentleman Caller evokes a spirit of hope for Amanda, for Tom, and for Laura. They may not pay the electric bill, but when a pageant must be staged, these Wingfields can oblige, and the decorative lights that bedeck the fire escape (courtesy of designer Ken Booth) give Kinney's set some serious sparkle. When he finally arrives, Kasey Mahaffy's Jim O'Connor is everything this beacon of optimism is promised to be: confident, kind, proud, full of self-betterment advice and not too handsome to strain the credibility that this man is also stuck in a warehouse job. He and Soto are lovely together, which makes O'Connor's capturing and breaking of Laura's heart that much sadder." Read Full Review
Evan Henerson
Showmag - Recommended
"...Because the ensemble, all resident members of A Noise Within work together regularly, the cohesion among them is palpable. Deborah Strang has moved the character up a notch in her absurd journey into her youthful past. Erica Soto works with a distinct "clump" to accompany her intense introversion. Together, they justify how Tom left home despite his urge to protect them. That leaves Jim, the gentleman caller (Kasey Mahafy), an often-unsung role, whose sympathy for Laura sometimes overshadows the tragedy inherent in their encounter. Here, Mahafy paints Jim as just as much of a desolate character as the rest of the family, who finds himself trapped in the tedium of a depression-era Southern town." Read Full Review
Leigh Kennicott
Stage Raw - Somewhat Recommended
"...Design elements aside, the play honestly hinges on the portrayal of Laura. Soto appears buoyant and functional. Whether the fault of Geoff Elliott's direction or of miscasting, this Laura doesn't inspire a believable sympathy. Williams's ingenue must escape into a fantasy world because she doesn't know how to live in the real one - she is both shatteringly brittle and fiercely substantial, with a bright fire that burns within. This Laura is neither - a gregarious and conventionally attractive actress dons a slight limp, glasses, and a few "nervous ticks."" Read Full Review
Vanessa Cate
Haines His Way - Highly Recommended
"...There have been many productions, stage and film, in the decades since its arrival. One of the best is currently on stage at A Noise Within in Pasadena. Director Geoff Elliott has mined the script for new nuances, making the characters bigger, louder, quirkier while at the same time making them more touchingly human. It is a production not to be missed, no matter how many times you have seen the play." Read Full Review
Rob Stevens
Colorado Boulevard - Highly Recommended
"...The play asks us, 'What price are you willing to pay for freedom...and who pays it?' - ultimately becoming a quest to "Let Me Out" instead of "in." We've likely all known someone like Amanda, who demands nothing less than all of our own ambitions and self to serve her own. But to come away with something like hope after an evening of those demands is the special gift of this particular production - well worth seeing and always, worth feeling." Read Full Review
Melanie Hooks
The Fume of Sighs - Recommended
"...Deborah Strang is Amanda for a second time at ANW. She had done the part during the 1997-98 season, but this time around she's the perfect age for her character. She is fantastic as she delivers an eccentric woman who really cares about her children, but doesn't realize that her over-protectiveness is causing them psychological damage. Goldstein, Mahaffy, and Soto are three of the best actors in the ANW company, this time portraying complicated and conflicted people that are relatable" Read Full Review
