Exploring Memories in 'Glass Menagerie' at Main Street Arts

Memories are often history viewed through a Vaseline-coated lens: everything looks dreamy and vaguely pretty. That’s how we remember it, how did things really unfold?

Four actors will ask audiences to grapple with that question when Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie hits the Main Street Arts stage in Bedford Hills Jan. 28.

Two professional actors, Nathan Wright and Gina Jarrin, will play the leading roles of Tom and Amanda in this production by the Infinity Repertory Company. Students Lilliana Levonick, a freshman at Fox Lane High School, and Jack Wedge, an middle school student at John Jay Middle School, perform as Laura and the Gentleman Caller.

Guest director Joanne Hudson said she enjoys working with the mix of professionals and amateurs. “I treat the students the way I treat the adults,” she said. “The same things are asked of them.”

Hudson brings her own unique vision to the staging of this American classic.

“I had thought of ‘The Glass Menagerie’ as a genteel piece, a memory play. But the main character, Tom, says it best: ‘I know I seem dreamy, but inside I’m boiling.’ That’s what this play is: all the characters have a placid exterior, but are seething inside with desires that are about to boil over,” Hudson said. “What had seemed to me like a tame piece of theater became very exciting.”

“The Glass Menagerie” premiered in 1944, as American theater was beginning to move into a different era. “It’s obvious that Williams was trying to do something very new with this piece,” Hudson commented. “Television was the latest thing and Williams had the then-radical idea to use projection.” Pantomime by the actors was another cutting edge element in what would become Williams’ break-out work.

But the strong realism that had been dominant in theater up until that time weighed heavily in the original production— realistic sets, lots of props, extra furniture. Hudson decided to strip all that away for this production. “That all seemed too cluttered to me,” she said.

“This truly is a memory play and when you’re remembering, you don’t visualize that stack of papers on the desk or the random chair in the corner. This staging strips out the props and furniture and focuses on what the characters are saying to each other,” Hudson explained. “The actors bring it all to life, and we’re fortunate to have such a talented, hard-working ensemble on our stage.”

Projections and pantomime are still key parts of the play and Hudson expressed admiration for her actors’ ability to learn and excel at pantomime. “They’re getting really good at it,” she said.

As part of the Infinity Repertory Company’s 2010-11 season, “The Glass Menagerie” staffs production roles—including technical assistance, props and sets—with students, to fulfill the Main Street Arts’ mission, which is to "nurture and develop the intellectual, artistic and personal development of children and youth through drama education, performing opportunities and live theatre experiences."

Infinity Rep is a company composed of teens who have completed the Conservatory study levels at MSACT under Paul Perez, Artistic Director of Infinity Rep for 20 years.

Hudson's experince includes directing the work of other playwrights, including Strindberg’s Miss Julie for the Salty Women Festiva, and her own plays: Minotaur, with Robert Vaughn, Unbidden, Iceland Fulbright and The Absolutely Positively True Tale of Floki and Loki, commissioned by the Vestmannaeyjar Iceland Library. 

“The Glass Menagerie” performs for one weekend only: Friday, January 28 at 8pm; Saturday, January 29 at 8pm, and Sunday, January 30 at 1pm.   is located in the Northern Westchester Shopping Plaza, off Harris Road, at 238 Route 117 By Pass Road in Bedford Hills.   Tickets are $12, and can be purchased by calling 914. 864.1880 or at www.mainstreetact.org.