Director Megan E. O’Keefe ’11 and stage manager Danielle N. Drees ’12 discuss the complexities of Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie” during a rehearsal. The first Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club production of the semester, “The Glass Menagerie” opens at the Loeb Experimental Theater on Feb. 19.

February 19-27

Loeb Experimental Theater

Directed by Megan E. O’Keefe ’11

Produced by Michael W. Zellman-Rohrer ’10

Tom Wingfield is no hero, no magician, no businessman. Tom is no writer; he has little save a cigarette. But, what he does have is a story: there was Laura, the painfully shy sister; Amanda, the worried mother; Jim, the gentleman caller; and there was Tom. Tom Wingfield has his memory.

Thus begins Tennessee Williams’ famed four-character play, “The Glass Menagerie,” a touching tale about the struggle to support a fragile family, the disappointments that one encounters in this endeavor, and the difficult decisions one must face when trying to keep these loved ones secure.

“It’s a beautiful, bittersweet story. In its simplicity, it’s more touching—a play about the dynamics between a somewhat overbearing but loving mother and her son and daughter, and their interaction with the appearance of the much-awaited gentleman caller,” director Megan E. O’Keefe ’11 says. “Their problems, when reduced, are just about meeting expectations and failing those expectations. And that is similar to all of us.”

Apart from the dramatic component of the production—led by David J. Smolinsky ’11, who plays Tom—a large-scale sculptural work crafted by Sara J. Stern ’12 will also be incorporated.

“The installation will be composed of clear, hand-sewn acetate animal forms and their shadows, sheer fabric, and plexi. It will also rely heavily on a special lighting design,” Stern says. “I chose to work with shadows because, like shadows, reenacted memories are never the thing itself, and they are only witnessed when captured, such as in the space of a theater or upon the pages of a book.”

O’Keefe intends to reflect faithfully Williams’ nostalgic story, drawing the audience into the Wingfield family’s plight. “We can set up their world and invite the audience into it,” she says. “If we can keep it fresh and spontaneous for [the audience], then we have done our job.”

—Vicky Y.L. Ge