Thank you to Robert Heide for restoring me to sanity. I’m a frequent contributor to the WestView News, and, after reading his recent review, more than ever proud to be one. I like to think that the WestView News speaks truth to power, but it’s good to know this policy extends beyond the political.
Ben Brantley, after all, wields a great deal of power. Even in this multimedia age, he can make or break a play. I usually read what he has to say with a lot of healthy skepticism, but his review of The Glass Menagerie was so over-the-top laudatory, comparing Cherry Jones’ performance to that of the legendary Laurette Taylor and saying how this production revised his opinion of the play, I thought I must see it. The Glass Menagerie is one of my favorite plays by one of my favorite playwrights, and I would have been tempted to go at any rate…as it was, I went with high expectations.
By the end of the first act, I felt despondent and very alone in the world, as my neighbors to the left and right of me seemed delighted with everything. I admire Mr. Heide’s professional restraint in describing Ms. Jones’ performance. He writes, “I had the feeling that this Amanda would survive somehow against all odds.” This is exactly the trouble, but I would go further—her performance was bombastic and hollow, a complete misreading of the part.
The first Tennessee Williams I ever saw live (when I was a teen) was Maureen Stapleton playing Amanda in a beautiful, understated production on Broadway. Maureen Stapleton already had a reputation for bending the elbow, and her interpretation may even have been somewhat enhanced by a distracted, anxious, drifter approach to the role; at any rate, it was genuinely affecting in a way this current production decidedly is not. Mr. Heide’s description of both Cherry Jones and Zachary Quinto couldn’t be more accurate without sounding accusatory or shrill, as my review probably would’ve, because I realize my disappointment borders on anger–anger at some kind of fundamental dishonesty.
The tragedy missing from Ms. Jones performance is that Amanda,along withher daughter Laura,is incapable of fending for herself. However, as the playwright sees it, there is another kind of valor besides simply the will to survive. While lost to this tooth-and-claw world, both mother and daughter are wondrous creatures. The tender realm of imagination, progeny of memory and dreams, must be protected…Oh I could go on and on about how this production of “The Glass Menagerie” just doesn’t get it.
Of course, I will read Ben Brantley from now on with disbelief, which is at least something I’ve learned from the experience. And I will read Mr. Heide with an enhanced level of trust. Bravo to Mr. Heidefor standing up to prevailing opinion and speaking nothing less than the truth!
