Glass Menagerie doesn't shine

by Matthew Falduto

Old Creamery - The Old Creamery has a new studio space to replace the one that was lost in the flood. The space is located in an old school building. Last weekend, in this wonderfully intimate venue I experienced a classic in American theatre, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. Unfortunately, this production did not shine as brightly as it could have.

The Glass Menagerie is the story of Amanda, a proud Southern belle who was abandoned by her husband many years before and had to care for her children, Tom and Laura. Tom works in a factory to support his mother and sister and resents them for it. Laura has a mild physical impairment and is painfully shy and introverted. She spends all of her time with her glass menagerie, a collection of glass animals. Amanda's one goal is to find a husband for her daughter. To that end, she convinces Tom to bring home a "gentleman caller." What happens next is the main action of the play.

One of the most curious decisions was the location of glass menagerie. Laura's collection is the central part of the show, perhaps only slightly less important than the framed photo of the absent father. The choice to place it downstage and low so parts of the audience couldn't see it or more importantly couldn't see Laura interacting with it was a poor one. The importance of the menagerie to Laura was not as impactful as it needed to be.

Some of the lighting decisions were also curious. Sometimes the lights would change in the middle of a scene and I sensed that they were trying to create an impact, but what that impact was supposed to be was a mystery to me. It is not always easy to light a more intimate space effectively; with more shows forthcoming, Old Creamery will learn the tricks needed to make it work.

Of the four actors, Cheryl Black as Amanda stood out. She perfectly captured the character of the southern woman trying to re-create the past for her daughter. Her desperation and neediness were on display for all to see. As Laura, Emily Peterson was hampered by the staging decisions of the director. She seemed to embody the role well when she was visible to the audience. The men both performed well, although Jonesy McElroy as Tom sometimes uncomfortably came across as a detective out of a noir film when he narrated the action from the future. One of the strongest parts of the show were how well the actors worked together in a scene. McElroy and Black were especially good in their confrontational scenes. Peterson and Patrick McGee as Jim created a sweet relationship in their pivotal scene near the end of the play.

Old Creamery's new studio space has wonderful potential. That a theatre would make a commitment to creating more intimate shows in a separate space has to be applauded. We can all look forward to upcoming shows such as Red, White and Tuna and even more exciting to my mind, Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.


Matthew has a Bachelor's degree in English from the University of Iowa. He has directed, acted in, and produced theater in the Iowa City area for over twelve years. He has worked with the Iowa City Community Theatre, City Circle and Dreamwell, of which he is a founder. Two of his plays have been produced in the Iowa City area. In another brief life, he also worked as a technical writer.