Behind The Scenes The Glass Menagerie
Steve Turner - Tom Wingfield
The thing I like most about my job is the emotional extremes that acting can lead to. In my experience they make me a more empathetic person. I like the challenge of creating something. I like researching and learning about people and places. I like hearing people laugh.
My character approach is generally the same for all roles I play; I learn the lines and then deliver them as truthfully as possible. To do that, one tries to understand the character; why does he say what he says, what does he want? With Tom Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie, these things are obvious. However, the autobiographical nature of the play has made me want to delve deeper into the life of Tennessee Williams. Further research has given me more understanding of the psychology of the man, so not only why he says what he says, but also why he is like he is.
Tom the narrator is more confident and honest then Tom the character. He can speak openly without being interrupted by his mother; he can be poetic and thoughtful. He has little to hide when speaking directly to the audience.
Adam Gardnir - Set & Costume Designer
Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie is a play about two men who can’t fit into the world that has been created for them by the character Amanda Wingfield. Despite Amanda’s desperation, her son Tom and his friend Jim have their own individual reasons to want to exist in other worlds, both cases result in them abandoning her daughter Laura. Therefore, Director Kate Cherry and I felt it was important that the set design is a perfect fit for Amanda, while being claustrophobic and suppressive for the men. Jim in particular will have to duck to enter the doors of the home while Tom spends much of his time on the exterior fire escape. We have placed the fire escape as far from the interior of the home as possible in the Playhouse stage area, thus allowing the audience to appreciate the distance and privacy Tom can achieve by going there. We have also detailed the ‘Ladies’ section of the set with furnishings and fabrics chosen by Amanda, none of which hold a hint of masculinity or scale. Again, this further demonstrates the separation between genders and how even in her best attempts, the men just can’t be accommodated for within these walls.
Kate Cherry’s vision for this production is to create a ‘memory play’. As Williams mentions, memory can distort details and allow for a more poetic sense of history to occur. Thus we have a set and costume design where some elements are strictly period, such as the glassware at the dinner table and Amanda’s Act II dress, mixed with more expressive, creative elements like the fractured glass floor and walls. These ideas came from direct conversation with Kate. Kate also had strong input into the practical use of the space by the actors. She has directed this play previously and therefore had a clear understanding of tricky scenes and how to stage them. For instance, bringing the candlelight conversation between Laura and Jim right to the front of the stage was an important discovery Kate had already made.
Lighting is a crucial element to the success of any set and costume design. For The Glass Menagerie, Lighting Designer Jon Buswell was very keen to extend the sense of fractured glass by letting rear and side light pierce the walls and floor. Jon has used very few lights from the front positions, which is a unique approach for a domestic play.
Myles Pollard - The Gentleman Caller
The thing I enjoy about playing The Gentleman Caller in The Glass Menagerie is performing as someone much younger than me. He is a bit of a clown which is fun to explore, and when he finds himself in a difficult situation, he has to either go with his instincts or be honourable. I enjoy exploring the complexity of such a flawed character.
The best thing about my job is the variety of mediums I am involved with, being theatre, film and television. I enjoy the variety! All mediums have their benefits but you can’t beat a live audience in the theatre. Television is really quick and you complete a scene or episode and it’s gone, whereas with film, you spend more time and energy to perfect the work. In the theatre it is about repeating fresh every night, so you have to be more disciplined.
One of my most memorable moments in my career was getting to know Hugh Jackman. He was really humble and respectful. He didn’t have much of an ego and went out of his way to welcome people. You realise that you may be the toast of the town one minute then nobody the next, so don’t get a big head.
