Dark and moving: The Glass Menagerie
THEATRE REVIEW
_BY NANCY _STETSON Florida Weekly Correspondent

COURTESY PHOTO Dan Atkinson, playing the gentleman caller in "The Glass Menagerie," is confronted by Brad Goetz, as the narrator, Tom Wingfield, in The Naples Players performance.

Family therapists often compare families to mobiles - hanging sculptures that move with the wind. If one person changes, everyone is affected. If a new element is introduced, everyone shifts and adjusts accordingly.

In "The Glass Menagerie" (playing at the Sugden Community Theatre through Nov. 17), the character that affects the Wingfield family is Jim, a gentleman caller that doesn't arrive on-stage until late in the play.

The play, in fact, is set around him. Part I is called "Preparation for a Gentleman Caller" and Part II, after intermission, "The Gentleman Calls."

In Act I, Amanda, the mother, a Southern belle who's seen better times, trills on and on about the gentlemen callers of her youth, and how she was so popular she once had to entertain 17 in one day.

Early in the play, she refers to her daughter possibly receiving a gentleman caller - a cruel statement, because Laura is not popular at all. She walks with a limp and is pathologically shy. She'd rather spend her time with her glass animal figurines than with flesh-and-blood people.

But Laura's physical defect isn't as crippling as her mother's constant criticism. Almost anyone would wilt under Amanda's tyrannical rule and continual harping, which she often presents under the guise of helpful hints.

This is a dysfunctional family trapped in a small, dimly lit St. Louis apartment. They're struggling financially, socially, and emotionally, and see no way out of their dire circumstances. The Naples Players' production is presented so well that even in the last row of the audience you feel claustrophobic.

Debi Garnett plays the mother with the desperation of a women who's been living at the end of her rope for too long. Garnett gives a discomforting performance, portraying Amanda as manic and shrill; no wonder her husband walked out 16 years ago and her son, Tom, is thinking of doing the same. This is not a one-note performance, though. Her character acts inappropriately girlish and flirty when Laura's Gentleman Caller arrives.

Bree Cowan is perfect as the daughter, hiding within herself, casting about furtive glances when trying to determine how safe it might be to express herself. Cowan is careful not to overplay her role, and adeptly expresses her character's emotions nonverbally.

And Brad Goetz anchors the play as Tom, the son, who also acts as narrator. A budding writer who desires adventure, he tolerates a stultifying job in a shoe warehouse and longs to escape his neurotic, overbearing mother. Goetz is at his most lyrical during his opening and closing narration scenes, and heartbreaking when he tells his sister about seeing a magician who could escape from a coffin without removing a nail.

Dan Atkinson rounds out this quartet of actors, clothing his Gentleman Caller with a hearty, brash personality. His optimism seems to know no bounds, and is so infectious that he's even able to coax Laura out of her shyness.

Director Anna Segreto has cast this play well. In her production, it's the mother who's most emotionally unbalanced; her two children are just trying their best to cope. Segreto's a little heavy-handed though when it comes to scenes mentioning the father, shining a spotlight on his portrait on the wall. During those moments, it feels as if she doesn't trust her audience.

Caroline Hanks does a superb job with the costumes, and scenic design, by Matt Flynn, is outstanding as usual. (The only false note is the fire escape landing, which unfortunately looks like a baby's playpen.)

This classic American play by Tennessee Williams, often said to be his most autobiographical, is so emotionally grueling it can be difficult to sit through at times. But with the despair come moments of beauty and grace. And ultimately, the Naples Players demonstrate why "The Glass Menagerie" has had such staying power and why it's still revered today.