By Joanna Brady

The Waterfront Playhouse continues to celebrate its 80th year with fresh, exciting work, this time with the world premiere of a terrific new two-person play, titled Glass, by Michael Aman.

Aman’s play is based on a true story about a pivotal moment in the career of Tennessee Williams, a time when he was most vulnerable, facing perhaps his last chance at success.

Glass is set in Chicago on Dec. 26, 1944. At the heart of the play is the terrible fear of failure by two people locked in an adversarial relationship. A very young Tennessee Williams has written a play called The Glass Menagerie, and it is opening night.

The actress playing the lead role of Amanda Wingfield, is Lorette Taylor, an alcoholic has-been on her umpteenth comeback attempt. Williams is understandably nervous, sure that she’ll drink, forget her lines, and ruin his play—or not show up altogether.

In Lorette’s dressing room, they thrash out their differences, occasionally reaching agreement on some things. But it becomes clear that Lorette’s interpretation of the character of Amanda differs from the playwright’s, even to the color of the dress Amanda is supposed to wear. Williams knows something isn’t working and has criticized her in rehearsals.

The problem is that Lorette is having difficulty feeling like the character she is playing. Lorette is earthy and Irish, fierce and tempestuous. Amanda the character is an ethereal Southern belle stuck in the past. One has to question whether Williams isn’t struggling with the character of Amanda himself.

Through it all, a very important prop sits on Lorette’s dressing table: an unopened bottle of scotch. Will she or won’t she? And will her decision alter the chances of success for the play, and the man who wrote it? Will Lorette find Amanda—and more important, will Amanda find her? The answers may not be what you think.

If you consider the title of this play, Glass, fragility comes to mind. And you wonder if the characters will be the fragile element. Will they be delicate, breakable, easy to crack? Or perhaps the play is about what goes into a glass—like scotch?

On the surface, it’s a battle of a woman struggling to regain her glory and a playwright desperate to gain a foothold in the theatre world, but as the play unfolds, we discover there is more to it than that. There is a third element to this play—the demon they both share. 

Williams had a lot riding on The Glass Menagerie. Through the rear view mirror, we all know that he needn’t have worried: The Glass Menagerie was the play that catapulted him from obscurity to fame; the success of which could hardly have been predicted in 1944. Further, though he denied it was a ‘memory play’, The Glass Menagerie, with its strong autobiographical elements, featured characters based on its author, his histrionic mother, and his mentally fragile sister, so the play meant a lot to Williams personally. 

Glass is a superb play, delivered with a whole range of emotion, even humor at times. The style reflects the tightly wound intensity of the characters, perfect for their interplay of insults and compliments in a claustrophobic dressing room. 

The Director’s Notes tell us that after its premiere in Chicago in 1944, The Glass Menagerie went on to Broadway where Lorette Taylor was a sensation for over five hundred performances. When she died, it was a long time before anybody dared replace her. It was Williams’ first successful play; he went on to become one of America’s most highly regarded playwrights.

The casting in this production is terrific. Tim Torre, no stranger to the Key West stage, is excellent in delivering Williams in a rich Mississippi accent in his dress clothes and dazzling patent leather black and white spectator shoes. Merry Jo Cortada is a fabulous, seasoned professional, with a CV too long to list here. She is the perfect Lorette, even to the slight Irish lilt. 

Orchestrating their repartee, arguments, and reconciliations, is director Michael Bush, the Artistic Director of the Jerry Herman Ring Theatre at University of Miami. Michael Boyer has designed the set with his usual amazing talent and creativity.

What more perfect venue to attend a play about Tennessee Williams than in Key West–a place he once called his home? This is entertaining drama, beautifully acted, and not to be missed. 

Glass runs from Jan. 14 till Feb. 1, 2020. A special talk-back with the author and director follows the Fri. Jan. 17 performance. The play runs about 90 minutes. There is no intermission. Order your tickets by calling the box office at 305 294-5015 or by visiting waterfrontplayhouse.org. Ask about date night, student, and military discounts.

(Joanna Brady is a local writer, author of the historical Key West novel, The Woman at the Light, published by St. Martin’s Press)

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