‘The Glass Menagerie’ takes to the Valley Players stage, Sept. 29-Oct. 15

Sept. 26, 2023  |  By Ruth Ann Pattee 

Michael Smith as Jim and Lindsay Repka as Laura contemplate Laura's collection of glass animals in 'The Glass Menagerie.' Photo by Bobby Kintz of Photos by Kintz

Tom, played by Matthew Grant Winston, remembers the controlling attitude of his mother, Amanda, played by Kitty Coyne, in a scene from 'The Glass Menagerie.' Photo by Bobby Kintz of Photos by Kintz

The cast of "The Glass Menagerie' at the Valley Players Theater (weekends Sept. 29-Oct. 15), left to right from the top: Matthew Grant Winston as Tom, Kitty Coyne as Amanda, Lindsay Repka as Laura, and Michael Smith as Jim.  Photo by Bobby Kintz of Photos by Kintz

The Valley Players present a classic of the American theater, “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams, with shows on weekends from Sept. 29 through Oct. 15 at the Valley Players Theater in Waitsfield. 

Showtimes are Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

This hauntingly poetic play tells of a single mother and her two adult children struggling to get by in Depression-era St. Louis. Amanda Wingfield (played by Kitty Coyne of Waterbury), raised in Southern gentility and abandoned by her husband, tries desperately to provide for her disabled daughter Laura (played by Lindsay Repka of Middlebury) and adventure-seeking son Tom (Matthew Grant Winston of Montpelier). 

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The cast of ‘The Glass Menagerie' at the Valley Players Theater (weekends through Oct. 15), left to right from top: Matthew Grant Winston as Tom, Kitty Coyne as Amanda, Lindsay Repka as Laura, Michael Smith as Jim. Photo by Bobby Kintz of Photos by Kintz

In spite of her best efforts, Amanda succeeds more in distancing her children from her, with Laura retreating into her own imaginary world and Tom plotting to escape the “prison” he sees himself in. The cast also includes Michael Smith (of Cambridge) as Jim, a high school acquaintance of Laura’s.

Directed by Michael Halloran of Barre with Assistant Director Ashley Hall of Warren, the play grapples with questions of family loyalty as well as the fragile illusions we live by, which can so easily be shattered. 

“Williams, by holding each of his characters up to the light like one of Laura’s glass figurines, presents four characters in conflict both with each other and with themselves, and does it in a compassionate yet unflinchingly honest way,” Halloran said. “There are no villains or heroes in this story, only people trying their best in an impossible situation.”

Lighting design for the show is by Irene Halibozek of Williston; Catie Smith of Cambridge is the costume designer. 

Get tickets ($18 Friday-Saturday, $14 Sunday) online at theaterengine.com or by calling 802-583-4220. The Valley Players Theater is located at 4254 Main Street (Rt.100). 

Details on this production and information about the Valley Players are online at valleyplayers.com.

Ruth Ann Pattee of Fayston is the producer of “The Glass Menagerie.”