THE GLASS MENAGERIE

 

 The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams.  

Directed by Geoffrey Borny. Designed by Sarea Coates. Costume design by Anna Senior. Brenton Warren Properties. Lighting Design Craig Muller. Sound Design Nev Pye. Stage Manager Julie Barnes and Mae Schembri. Set Coordinator Russell Brown OAM. Accent Coach Tony Turner. Intimacy Coordinator Jill Young. Canberra REP Theatre. Canberra Repertory Society. July 24 – August 8 2026. Bookings 62571950 or 62474222.

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

Canberra Rep could hope for no better person than Geoffrey Borny to direct Rep’s production of Tennessee Williams’s memory play The Glass Menagerie. Not only does he hold a PhD in Williams’ works but he is also a former head of the now defunct ANU Drama Faculty. What he and his cast and creatives have produced is a perfect homage to Williams’ deeply revelatory insight into the life of the Wingfield family during the time of the Great depression in 1930s St. Louis. At the end of Tom Wingfield’s final regretful and guilt-ridden monologue I am left with a profound sense of loss, of entrapment and life as fragile as Laura Wingfield’s glass menagerie, as neurotic as Amanda Wingfield’s allusion to the gay life of the Southern belle and as suffocating as Tom’s work at the Continental Shoe Warehouse. 

Jamie Johnston as Laura. Rob de Fries as Tom in The Glass Menagerie"

 

The Glass Menagerie is a play about family, based in part on Williams’ own family, his mother the histrionic Edwina, portrayed in the creation of Amanda (Victoria Tyrrell Dixon), his sister Rose who is partially realized in his portrayal of the insecure and shy Laura (Jamie Johnston) and himself as Tom (Rob de Fries). What is captured so powerfully in this production is the character’s urge to escape. Tom escapes to the movies. Laura escapes to her glass menagerie. Amanda escapes to the glamour magazines and a bygone era of carefree Southern gaiety. Even Jim O’ Connor (John Whinfield), the gentleman caller plans to escape to the fledgling world of television. Tom and Laura’s father Cornelius has also escaped to roam the country with a telephone exchange company, never to return. His lit portrait hangs upon the wall as a reminder of the search for something else. For Tom it lies in his future dream to be a writer. For Amanda it is in the past glory of her youth. For Laura it is the vain hope that she may find love with her schoolgirl crush, O’Connor.

Laura (Jamie Johnston) and Amanda (Victoria Tyrrell Dixon)

 

Borny’s direction is meticulous, imbuing the production and the cast with a deep understanding of Williams’s emotional reflections. Nev Pye’s sound design and musical selection guides our response, heightening our reaction to the moment and transporting us to the magical realm of memory. Projected silent movie captions flash images and words upon a screen to remind us that we are witnessing a recollected memory of a family through Tom’s eyes. What we are seeing is Williams’ struggle played out through the actions and motivations of his characters and revealed through Tom’s narration. It is disturbing, moving and a profoundly insightful observation of human nature.

John Whinfield as Jim O'Connor. Jamie Johnston as Laura Wingfield 

 

The Glass Menagerie, like Cat On A Hot Tin Roof or A Streetcar Named Desire are studies in family dynamics. Although Rep’s staging of The Glass Menagerie is an amateur production the casting is crucial and Borny has chosen an excellent cast to capture the spirit and the nature of Williams’s characters and entice understanding and empathy. Tom’s final monologue exposes the regret and remorse at abandoning his sister, but it is left to Laura to blow out the candles and extinguish hope in the play’s final moment. It is a shattering moment that will stay with you long after you have left the theatre. As will Jamie Johnston’s performance of Laura. It is heart wrenching, beautifully understated and exquisitely nuanced. It provides a perfect foil to Whinfield’s confident O’Connor. The long scene in Act Two between Laura and O’Connor is thoroughly engaging, moving and ultimately devastating. It is performed brilliantly by Whinfield and Johnston.

John Whinfield (Jim O'Connor), Victoria Tyrrell Dixon (Amanda ) Rob de Fries (Tom)

As Amanda, Tyrrell Dixon bristles with the neurosis of Williams’ female protagonists – Maggie the Cat, Blanche Duboit and Amanda Wingfield. Tyrrell Dixon scales the heights of elation and the depths of anguish in a performance that reveals Williams’ painful memories of a woman, trapped in a life of unrequited hope. Hers is the tragedy of vanquished expectation. Williams’ creation of Tom Wingfield presents a challenge. As the Narrator of the story his reflections with hindsight must contrast with his appearance as the young Tom in the recalled action of the play. As narrator Tom, de Fries effectively captures the wry humour and detached recollection of the older narrator. As the young 23 year old Tom de Fries’ characterization is honest enough, but there is the impetuosity of youth missing in the physicality of his character. I was hoping for greater contrast between the escapee and the entrapped Tom. In 1945 Eddie Dowling was 55 when he played Tom in the original Broadway production. It is a question of differentiating more the younger and the older Tom. de Fries honestly portrays the emotional shift. Physically, there is a youthfulness that is yet to come.

Canberra REP’s production of The Glass Menagerie is a splendid Tennessee Williams showcase performance, directed by a master of playwright’s works and performed by a cast that embrace the essential humanity of the play’s characters. The times change, but Borny’s production of The Glass Menagerie teaches as does any great work of the stage that human nature is not defined by the passing of time but by the actions of humans.

If you are a theatre lover, a student of theatre and acting or a teacher and student of dramatic literature do not miss this opportunity to see a true production of Tennessee Williams’ classic memory play.

Photos by Ross Gould