The Calvin Theatre Company (CTC) is in the midst of a production of The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. Showings began on Friday, Oct. 10, at 7:30 pm and included showings on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The showings will continue on Friday, Oct. 24, at 7:30 p.m; and Saturday, Oct. 25, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., at the Gezon Auditorium in Spoelhof University Center.
The Glass Menagerie is a memory play about a broken family, the Wingfields, who attempt to fix what is broken about them. The production is directed by John Scritchfield, Calvin’s Visiting Lecturer of Theater and Creative Director for the CTC. According to Scritchfield, he chose The Glass Menagerie as the fall production because it’s a show he’s always wrestled with emotionally, which he finds appealing. It is also one of the most produced pieces of American theater, and it always struck Scritchfield how “this really small human story would be so resonant with so many people.” Calvin has previously shown The Glass Menagerie in 1968 and 1981, and Scritchfield felt it would be appropriate to show it again in lieu of Calvin’s 150th anniversary.
Scritchfield believes The Glass Menagerie is significantly relevant today, even if it was originally published in the 1940s. Scritchfield explains that The Glass Menagerie deals with fractures in a family that become so deep that relationship is no longer possible. In today’s world, there are topics that seem to want to divide and fracture us. In The Glass Menagerie, the Wingfields need to unite and stick together — and they choose not to — which leaves everyone worse off because of it. Scritchfield told Chimes, “It is my hope that anyone who comes and sees this show … [will] see in it a reflection of the future that comes with this level of division.” Scritchfield hopes that, in a world of brokenness and division, we learn to fix the cracks and make solutions.
The stage is made to look like broken glass, and Scritchfield mentions that it’s a great metaphor for life, saying that “when something is broken with glass, you can repair it in theory, but those cracks are always going to be there.” Scritchfield goes on to describe how Tom Wingfield — the son in the Wingfield family — through reliving memories of his past, realizes that the cracks in his family can’t be fixed. Because it is a memory play looked at through broken glass, Scritchfield also mentions that parts of the story are unreliable, even fictitious, adding depth to the story audiences will see.
With a cast of just four performers, The Glass Menagerie is unique among other productions that Calvin has put on, according to Olivia Crockett, a junior studying studio art and psychology with a theater minor, who plays Amanda Wingfield in the production. Crockett describes the family in The Glass Menagerie as one that is experiencing extreme difficulty and “white knuckling it” through life.
Despite Calvin having a history of productions with light-hearted endings, Crockett tells Chimes that The Glass Menagerie is not necessarily a happy play; it’s a realistic production because it discusses “the stress of the times, the money problems [and] the dysfunctional family.” Crockett told Chimes that “at the end of the day, this play isn’t meant to make you feel good. It’s a drama. … It’s not supposed to be an uplifting play because of how realistic it is.” Crockett emphasizes that it’s a play about a family, and that family is messy. The Glass Menagerie reflects that messiness.
The cast of The Glass Menagerie has been rehearsing since the first day of school for multiple hours, four nights a week, according to Crockett. Crockett pays compliments to her cast members, Hayden Vander Veen, Jaelynn DeVries and Elijah VanderVeen for working so hard to bring life to their characters.
Clare Rybicki, a sophomore studying history, played a major role in building the sets and is the assistant stage manager for The Glass Menagerie. For this production, Rybicki will be in charge of calling the show, including cues for sound, light and actors. According to Rybicki, The Glass Menagerie is about “a family struggling to get by and figure out how to work with each other, and ultimately that doesn’t really happen.” Rybicki states that, although it’s a small cast, the show goes a long way “in terms of what you expect life to be” in regards to family struggles and broken relationships between parents and children.
Rybicki is especially excited for the music of The Glass Menagerie. According to both Scritchfield and Rybicki, Will Kolk, a music composition major, will be actively scoring the production on a piano in the wings of the stage, where the audience will hear him but not see him. Rybicki says, “The goal of that is to provide a little bit of atmosphere and reasoning to the play … it’s really going to tie things together.”
Rybicki hopes audiences leave the show and take away “how important it is to communicate with family members when something goes wrong … and how [miscommunication] can tear a family apart.” The cast members have worked hard, and Rybicki is excited for members of the Calvin community to experience such a unique production.
With its honesty, artistry and emotional depth, Calvin’s The Glass Menagerie offers a story worth seeing — one that invites reflection long after the curtain falls.
