A portrait of family, dreams and regret

Covenant College Drama Association presents ‘The Glass Menagerie’

Covenant College’s Drama Association will present “The Glass Menagerie” in three performances in Sanderson Hall auditorium on its Lookout Mountain campus on Fridays and Saturdays, April 7-8 and 21-22.

“The Glass Menagerie” is a “memory play” as told by by Tom Wingfield about the family he loves so dearly, but from whom he so desperately wants to escape. Author Tennessee Williams wrote the semi-autobiographical play about regrets he had in leaving his own family to pursue his dreams.

Set in 1937 in the middle of the Great Depression, “The Glass Menagerie” paints a picture of the Wingfield family. Amanda (Professor Camille Hallstrom), Tom’s mother, was raised as a Southern belle. Though she may cling to them, the traditions of her past have very little place in 1930’s St. Louis. And while she dearly loves her children, Tom (David Kraus) and Laura (Abigail DeGraaf), she is smothering them. Amanda believes she must take action into her own hands, since Laura is uncontrollably shy with seemingly no aspirations and Tom is constantly avoiding his responsibilities.

Director, Matthew Mindeman, when asked why he decided to produce this play said, “I’ve loved Tennessee Williams since high school, especially ‘The Glass Menagerie,’” says director Matthew Mindeman. “Even though these characters’ situations are much different than mine, probably most of ours, I feel a great connection to them. There is something universal about what Williams has written here that speaks to who we are as people. How we love, how we dream. This makes the play not only a joy to watch, but profoundly thought- provoking.”