Tehran, Tehran – Medea Theater Hall will host a reading performance in the memory play “Glass Menagery” by American playwright Williams, Tennessee.
The performance will take place on Saturday and will be directed by Niloufar Torabi.
The cast includes Sarina Kian, Hossein Dharabi, Mehagan Tehranni and Ata Bakeruzadeh.
The play, premiering in Chicago in 1944, brought Williams from obscure to fame. The play has a powerful autobiographical element, featuring characters based on the author, his historical mother, and his spiritually vulnerable sisters. When writing the play, Williams drew previous short stories and scripts he wrote under the title “The Gentleman’s Caller.”
Moving to Broadway, the play won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award in 1945. “The Glass Menagerie” was Williams’ first successful play. He went on to become one of America’s most highly regarded playwrights.
It is a partially re-established drama of memory narrated and reinstated by Tom Wingfield, revolves around the lives of Tom, his mother Amanda and his younger sister Laura. The family is tackling challenges in everyday life in St. Louis in the 1930s. In particular, her desperate attempt to secure a suitor for Amanda’s pain-shy and disabled Laura.
The story is set in the aftermath of Great Repression, reflecting the economic struggles and social changes of the time. The play also explores the effects of World War II and explores the tensions and uncertainties that characterize the times.
Williams’ plays are celebrated with poetic and heart-pounding themes such as memory, fantasy, and the complexity of family relationships. Laura’s character, along with her collection of fragile glass animals, becomes a symbol of the delicate nature of dreams and desires.
“The Glass Menagerie” is considered an American theatre classic and is praised for its innovative use of symbolism and its timeless portrayal of the human condition.
Thomas Lanier Williams III (1911-1983) is known for his pen name Tennessee Williams, and was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with his contemporaries Eugene O’Neill and Arthur Miller, he is believed to be among the three playwrights of 20th century American dramas.
At the age of 33, after years of ambiguity, Williams suddenly became famous in New York City with the success of “The Glass Menagerie” (1944). It was the first of a series of successes, including “The A Streetcar Naming Desire” (1947), “The Cat’s Roof Cat” (1955), “The Sweet Bird of the Young” (1959), and “The Night of the Iguana” (1961).
Many of Williams’ most acclaimed works have been adapted to film. He also wrote short stories, poetry, essays and plenty of memoirs.
sab/