ON a cold winter night in December 1944, The Glass Menagerie had its world-premiere in Chicago. That legendary performance, and the ardent support of two Chicago theatre critics, catapulted Tennessee Williams, the then-unknown author, to celebrity status and launched his career as America’s greatest playwright. The Glass Menageriebecame an instant classic, went on to be translated into more than 20 languages, and is still regularly performed on stages across the world. Now, 75 years later, in celebration of both play and playwright, Abrahamse & Meyer Productions bring a new production of this much-loved Williams masterpiece to the Artscape Arena from November 1-30, 2019.
A talkative, domineering mother, Amanda Wingfield, runs roughshod over her shy daughter, Laura, and her rebellious son, Tom. In an effort to kindle a romance for Laura, she invites to dinner one of Tom’s workmates, Jim, The Gentleman Caller, only to watch her well-intentioned plans fall to pieces as cruelly as the glass figurines in the menagerie of the title.
Leading the star-studded cast of the 2019 revival is doyenne of the South African stage, Fiona Ramsay, who returns to the Mother City to star in the coveted role of Amanda Wingfield. Matthew Baldwin and Jenny Stead star as the siblings Tom and Laura Wingfield. Rounding off the cast of four is Marcel Meyer in the role of the Gentleman Caller.
Multi-award-winning Fred Abrahamse takes on dual duties as director and scenic designer. His long-time collaborators, Marcel Meyer and Faheem Bardien,join the creative team as costume [Meyer] and lighting [Bardien] designers. Music plays a central role in Williams’s conception of The Glass Menagerie and to this end, Abrahamse and Meyer have commissioned up-and-coming Cape Town composer, Jaco Griessel to compose an original score for the production.
Tickets are R250 through Computicket
