'The Glass Menagerie' in Shanghai: A Classic Revisited

An adaptation of American playwright Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie," a play widely regarded as having accompanied generations of American theater practitioners as they grew up, is being staged in Shanghai by American director David Esbjörnsson and the actors of the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center.

"The Glass Menagerie" revolves around the three members of the Wingfield family: Tom, a restless dreamer with his sights set on distant horizons, unwilling to be trapped in the suffocating confines of home; Laura, an extremely introverted and lame girl who fears the clamor of the outside world and prefers to stay at home playing with her collection of glass animals; and their domineering mother Amanda, who hopes for her son's success and longs for her daughter to marry soon.

One day, a visit from Tom's coworker breaks the family's daily monotony, but the story does not unfold in the direction the Wingfields had hoped.

First performed in 1944, the play is widely considered Tennessee's semi-autobiographical work. It is the only one of his plays in which he gives the protagonist his own given name, Tom, and the characters in this Southern American family bear a striking resemblance to Tennessee's own relatives.

The Shanghai production, through retro and nostalgic scenic design by American stage designer Ricardo Hernández, preserves the original work's sense of oppression and recreates the harsh realities and inner motivations of an ordinary family during the Great Depression in America.

Performance info

Dates: Through May 31, 2pm/7:30pm

Tickets: 180-580 yuan

Venue: Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center 上海话剧艺术中心

Address: 288 Anfu Rd 安福路288号