The Glass Menagerie

Tennessee Williams presented his 1944 breakthrough The Glass Menagerie as a "memory play" - and, being subliminally autobiographical, it's atmospheric and otherworldly.

The Belvoir St Theatre's acclaimed 2014 production, directed by Eamon Flack, is recreated in Melbourne. TGM depicts Williams' fractious family in the late '30s - and his life as 'Tom' (a wry Luke Mullins), before he broke away, reinventing himself as 'Tennessee', screenwriter/playwright. The Williams become the Wingfields. Mother Amanda (a mercurial Pamela Rabe, Wentworth's "Freak") is a wearied Southern Belle - alternately poignant and pathetic. Neglected by her (alcoholic) husband, she domineers her adult children in their confining St Louis apartment while battling for survival and dignity. Tom's beloved sister Laura (Rose Riley) is "crippled", her profound shyness emblematic of mental illness. Amanda fixates on the idea of a "gentleman caller" for Laura - but also for her own domestic diversion. However, the fragile offspring is absorbed in her glass animal collection. Tom, author and narrator, sneaks away nightly to the movies - a euphemism for his queer liaisons. All the characters reminiscence - and dream of escape. This epically long rendering of TGM evokes the quality of old black and white films with screen titles, dual real-time projections, and a cinematic score. Yet Laura, as the subject, remains elusive - Williams himself aware of her as a cipher, a tragic heroine slipping out of the text.