How can a production present a classic play in a new light? The Glass Menagerie at freeFall Theater may show how. Here, Tom Wingfield recalls the action of the plot via his memory but by performing magic. Director Eric Davis seems to think that because author Tennessee Williams was gay, Tom is too. So he wanted to escape his repressive mother and environment but also to seek lovers at sea. Shall we test? Williams ordered a picture of the missing Wingfield father who “fell in love with long distance” always to look down on the family room. At freefall, three huge projected portraits of him appear. The one centered over the couch that’s also Tom’s bed dominates. The portrait gives way sometimes to projections of a sexually provocative seaman and Merchant Marine documents. Guess whose portrait will replace Dad’s. Robert Glauz interprets Tom not just as a narrator but a gimmicky director who blocks moves of his family. As a protagonist, he can’t control the dominating of his mother Amanda, the antagonist (Stephanie Lynge, clearly the star of every scene she’s in and ultimate winner of audience sympathy). Isn’t the way she is, given her circumstances—especially their financial situation, as understandable as it is unwise? If Tom is a magician, why can’t he work his magic to see that his beloved sister gets taken care of? Why can’t he use his fire escape to get out to the Paradise ballroom across the way instead of letting the metal bars imprison him? When his electric bill neglect has the effect he might have foreseen, why can’t he get more light than from a few candles into the house in some way? (The lights director could use a taller and better stocked candelabra.) If Tom has magic powers enough to change remembered places around, why is it that Glauz sometimes sounds garbled? The askew suggestive set presents problems, as many bits of dialogue get lost when characters can’t project in the way a proscenium or simple in-the-round staging would allow. Voices can’t speak from the backs of heads. I missed most of Lynge’s famous telephone solicitations for magazine subscriptions. Ali Foley as fearful Laura stresses her self-consciousness. It seems to come from her state of mind much more than her physical lameness. The latter is played down here, and when Laura interacts with Jim O’Connor, it seems to almost disappear. Her scenes with that Gentleman Caller are the play’s highlight. As Jim, likeable Michael David mostly contrasts with the other characters. He’s optimistic and upbeat, able to put behind him struggles less successful than he’d wished for. While Laura lives in memories of his and her high school pasts, he’s looking forward toward a better future. Despite his failure to fulfill Amanda’s ambition for Laura to snag him as a husband, doesn’t David’s Jim leave a positive impression of himself? What should be made of his quick disposition of pieces of gum? Or his signing Laura’s yearbook? Because of problems in the set design, not fully solved by lighting or sound, well-chosen costumes are of vital importance. They recall the period and especially reflect the personalities of the women. Amanda’s always perfect curled hair says much about her. Where might she have got the elaborate pink outfit she wore to greet the Gentleman Caller? One excellent choice of sound is for recordings the Wingfield father left behind, to which Laura always retreats. Is it linked to her glass collection? Can music from the Paradise ballroom be heard? Why is Laura’s glass collection down front and what action happens there? From where does Tom appear at the start and where does he leave from and to? Is that important? And lastly, why does Tom tell his story and can his memory be trusted? At freeFall, does the production prompt asking such questions or answering them?
