'The Glass Menagerie' Opens 2009-10 Utah State Theatre Season at USU

Utah State Theatre in the Caine School of the Arts at Utah State University presents The Glass Menagerie Sept. 24-26 and Sept. 30-Oct 3 in the Caine Lyric Theatre (28 W. Center Street, Logan).

 

The award-winning Tennessee Williams play opens the 2009-10 theater season at USU. The play is set in St. Louis in 1937 and describes the life of the Wingfield household.

 

Tickets are available at the Caine School of the Arts Box Office in FA 138-B, 435-797-8022, or online and are $13 for adults and free to USU students with a valid ID. Other discounts are also available.

 

Presented as a memory, the play is a powerful tale that shows what happens when fragile dreams clash with reality, said the play’s director Colin Johnson, a USU theatre arts department faculty member.

 

Jared Rounds leads as narrator Tom Wingfield, an aspiring poet who supports his family by working at a shoe warehouse. He escapes his mundane life through literature, movies and alcohol. Anne Werner plays Laura Wingfield, who has withdrawn from life, preferring to listen to old records and enjoy her collection of glass figurines. Her mother, Amanda Wingfield, played by Aubrey Campbell, decides marriage is the cure for Laura’s directionless life after her daughter drops out of business college. Nate Kluthe portrays Jim O’Connor, Tom’s friend and co-worker who is unknowingly tapped as Laura’s suitor. A dinner party to introduce the two young people ends in disaster.

 

“The theme of the work is the challenge that faces us all in communicating with parents of very different generations, especially those who have lived through difficult times,” said Johnson. “Furthermore, this semi-autobiographical play illustrates the absolute need we all have for hope in our lives . . . for the promise of love and security in an unforgiving world. Its central character, Amanda Wingfield, is one of the most enduring characters of the American theater.”

 

The Caine School of the Arts presents more than 175 events each academic year. More information on coming events presented by Caine School of the Arts is available online.

 

 

Writer: Sally Okelberry, 435-797-1500, sally.okelberry@usu.edu

Contact: Colin Johnson, professor, Department of Theatre Arts, 435-797-3047, colin.johnson@usu.edu