“The Glass Menagerie” opens Oct. 29
The Cornell College theatre department is opening its season Oct. 29 with a production of the Tennessee Williams classic “The Glass Menagerie.” The show runs Oct. 29, 30, 31 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 1 at 2 p.m. in The Plumb-Fleming Black Box Theatre. Audiences are invited to remain or return to the theatre for a talk-back with the cast, crew and director on Oct. 30, immediately after the performance.
Mounted in partnership with Iowa City’s Riverside Theatre, this production is directed by guest director Steven Marzolf. This classic piece was the first major success for one of America’s most revered playwrights and was winner of the New York Drama Critics Award in 1945.
In the show, an aging Southern Belle longs for her youth and dreams of a better life for her children. Her restless son Tom, a would-be poet and the story’s narrator, gets swept up in his mother’s funny and heartbreaking schemes to find his painfully shy sister, Laura, a husband. Viewed through a veil of memory and regret, the Wingfield family struggles to negotiate the past, the future and each other in depression-era St. Louis. Tennessee William’s iconic American play examines a family on the edge of the abyss. This production is intended for mature audiences.
This production marks the 11th co-production between Cornell College and Iowa City’s Riverside Theatre. This is the first partnership for Riverside Theatre’s new artistic director, Sam Osheroff. This production will open at Riverside Theatre on Nov. 6 and run through Nov. 22 with audience talk-backs on Nov. 8 and 20.
The cast includes two area Equity actors; Jim Van Valen, Associate Professor of Theatre at Cornell College, will be playing Tom Wingfield and Jody Hovland, Artist in Residence at Cornell College and a Riverside Theatre Founding Artist, will play Amanda Wingfield. Iowa City actor Aaron Weiner joins the cast as Jim O’Connor and Cornell sophomore Catherine Backer plays Laura Wingfield.
The show’s costume design is by Cornell’s resident costume designer, Jenny Nutting-Kelchen, scenic design by theatre professor Scott Olinger, lighting and projection design by guest designer Kristen Geisler, and sound design by Cornell College Technical Director, Don Schneider.
Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for seniors/students/youth, and free for Cornell faculty, staff, and students with ID. Tickets can be reserved by calling (319) 895-4293 or emailing Boxoffice@cornellcollege.edu. Reservations are strongly recommended as seating is limited.
