People who change their normal names to weird names usually do great things. Tennessee Williams is one such person. He is the exceptional playwright of numerous works, including John Carroll’s recent spring production of The Glass Menagerie. This particular show is based off of his own family and life in Mississippi, filled with love and sadness. Can’t have an award-winning piece of literature without love and heartbreak. JCU students Chris Kent, Veronica Zielinkski, Julia Blanchard, and Derek Sullivan brilliantly portrayed their characters, making the audience laugh and cry at appropriate times. They also had awesome southern accents. All in all, it was a great show, and you should go see it.
There are four characters in this show: Tom Wingfield, Amanda Wingfield, Laura Wingfield, and Jim O’Connor. Tom is struggling with finding a job because he’s stuck in a warehouse, Amanda is your classic overprotective mother, Laura is Amanda’s daughter and Tom’s sister, and Jim is one of Tom’s warehouse friends. It’s important to mention that Laura is crippled with a lame leg. She is so self-conscious about her leg that she doesn’t talk to many people because she is embarrassed. Amanda is so obsessed with finding Laura a “gentleman caller” because Amanda doesn’t think Laura can do it herself. Laura has only ever liked one boy, a certain Jim O’Connor. You see, they went to high school together and he was a total jock. As captain of the debate team and the lead in their high school’s production of The Pirates of Penzance, he was an obvious catch. Unfortunately, Jim didn’t give Laura the time of day, so she slowly moved on and hasn’t liked a boy since.
And then the bell tower went off.
You’re probably wondering why there’s a picture of a unicorn on the banner in atrium displaying the show’s information. Well, there’s a lot of tension in the Wingfield house. Laura owns a “glass menagerie,” as her mother calls it, that she admires when things get a little too stressful for her. Her favorite animal in the menagerie (basically a zoo) is a unicorn because it’s different. And now you know.
So in the second act, Tom brings home a co-worker from the warehouse with the last name of O’Connor. Laura freaks and asks what his first name is. Yup, it’s the Jim O’Connor, her high school crush. Fate is finally bringing them together, yay! Unfortunately, she is so nervous that she becomes physically ill when Jim comes over. Completely intentionally, Amanda leaves Jim and Laura alone to chat.
Also, the lights went out because Tom forgot to pay the electric bill, so the only light between Jim and Laura is candlelit. How romantic!
So Laura gets all giggly because the man of her dreams is sitting right in front of her. And then he asks her to dance in the candlelight. As if that weren’t enough to make a girl swoon, he asks her if anyone has ever told her she is beautiful. And then he kisses her! There is a God!
Unfortunately, this is one of those “I knew it was too good to be true” moments. Jim confesses something that I’m not going to tell you so you’ll go see it, but it’s a total guy move. Like, yes, you are in fact the biggest jerk in the history of literature. Laura’s heart breaks just like the glass unicorn did when she was dancing with that Jim idiot. Amanda’s dreams of finding a husband for Laura are likewise shattered, and you have to find out what happens to Tom because I’m not going to tell you that either.
Yeah, it’s ultimately a sad show, but not everything in life is happy. You won’t walk out of that theater feeling lighthearted, but you might leave thinking about some of the underlying messages the show contains. I mean, what’s with the unicorn, anyway? What happens to poor Laura? I don’t know, you tell me.
You can still catch a showing this weekend, March 28, 29, and 30. The Friday and Saturday performances start at 7:30 p.m. and the Sunday matinee starts at 2:00 p.m. Saturday’s performance will have the same cast I saw, but Friday and Saturday will feature Luke Hearty, Veronica Zielinski, Abbey Vogel, and Joe Bellian.