Tennessee Williams wrote many masterful plays during his career, plays which won him various awards and at their hearts dealt with the world through a form of poetic realism. His plays also explored the extremes of human behaviour, at times coupling madness, violence and fantastical deaths. But underneath them all ran the themes of desire and isolation, themes which would – at times – touch on homosexuality. After all, Williams himself was gay.
Nowhere are these themes more apparent than in the semi-autobiographical The Glass Menagerie, a play which is being staged by Black Swan Theatre Company this March. For actor Steve Turner, who plays the character of Tom Wingfield (aka Tennessee Williams), The Glass Menagerie is a beautiful piece of writing, one fuelled with wonderful language which talks directly to the audience. But being a memory play, it is sentimental and prone to a prosaic reality. Or is it?
‘The play is apparently quite autobiographical of Tennesee Williams from his late teenage to mid-20s when he was living in St Louis in America,’ Turner explained. ‘It’s set in 1938, so just after The Depression with World War II sort of looming on the horizon. The main character, Tom, is stuck in this little apartment with his mother and his sister. The father has left them to fend for themselves and he’s got a mundane job in a shoe factory. And he has all this inspiration of wanting to write, wanting to travel and wanting to make a difference and he’s just trying to escape from the hassle.
‘He has a sister who’s slightly disabled who he is very fond off and that kind of keeps him there, helping his sister and supporting his mother. And then he decides to join the Merchant Navy. And his mum realises this and she sort of blackmails him into finding someone to replace him as the bread winner, to bring a gentleman caller home who may be fond of his sister and get married to her.’
The result is Jim, a gentleman caller who Tom takes an incredibly extensive interest in. ‘One of the larger monologues belonging to Tom is when he’s describing the gentleman caller, the guy who he brings home to introduce to his sister, and he goes into great detail to describe Jim. You get a sense that he has been watching him and has been very aware of him all through their high school days and the clubs he’s been part of and the basket ball games he’s won. Tom even describes Jim as having the look of white washed China.’
It’s desperation that leads Tom to leave: the aching isolation and desire to be desired for who he truly is too great to deal with. His mother also reeks of desperation as she demands Tom find a replacement for himself. It’s desperation – of wanting to escape and wanting to have comfort stay – that Turner says is evident in today’s society, particularly as we tumble into a credit crisis, the likes of which we haven’t experienced since The Great Depression.
‘The play is more relevant today than it has been in the last 20 years. It’s looking at an America coming out of a depressed economic state. There’s war looming on the horizon. There are people with their mortgages being foreclosed with millions upon millions being unemployed. This is something the character Tom is concerned about. He’s frustrated at how the middle class of America are just blind and won’t admit to what’s happening. This is one of the frustrations that drives Tom. He’s one of those people who is quite idealistic and wants to make a difference and would like to travel to other countries or help people.’
The Glass Menagerie runs from March 14 until March 29 at The Playhouse Theatre. Tickets are available now. www.bsstc.com.au
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
