TEHRAN-The reading performance of the play “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams will be held at Arya Theater Hall in Tehran.

Directed by Heliya Jolaie Moghaddam, the 70-minute performance is set for February 21, 27, and 28, Mehr reported.

The play will be read by Mahmoud Goudarzi, Mehdi Asgharian, Azita Momenian, Mahdieh Zojaei, Elham Mogharaban, Somayeh Hajian, Reyhaneh Rezvani, Sadaf Rafiei, Marzieh Gholami, and Noushin Biglari.

Premiered in 1944 in Chicago, the play catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his histrionic mother, and his mentally fragile sister. In writing the play, Williams drew on an earlier short story, as well as a screenplay he had written under the title of “The Gentleman Caller”.

Moving to Broadway, the play won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award in 1945. “The Glass Menagerie” was Williams' first successful play; he went on to become one of America's most highly regarded playwrights.

It is a memory play, narrated and partially re-enacted by Tom Wingfield, and it revolves around the lives of Tom, his mother Amanda, and his sister Laura. The family grapples with the challenges of daily life in St. Louis during the 1930s, particularly Amanda’s desperate attempts to secure a suitor for the painfully shy and physically disabled Laura. 

The story is set in the aftermath of the Great Depression and reflects the economic struggles and societal changes of the time. The play also delves into the impact of World War II, exploring the tensions and uncertainties that characterized the period.

Williams’s play is celebrated for its poetic and poignant exploration of themes such as memory, illusion, and the complexity of familial relationships. The character of Laura, with her fragile glass animal collection, becomes a symbol of the delicate nature of dreams and aspirations. 

“The Glass Menagerie” is considered a classic of American theater, admired for its innovative use of symbolism and its timeless portrayal of the human condition.

Thomas Lanier Williams III (1911-1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three foremost playwrights of 20th-century American drama.

At age 33, after years of obscurity, Williams suddenly became famous with the success of “The Glass Menagerie” (1944) in New York City. It was the first of a string of successes, including “A Streetcar Named Desire” (1947), “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1955), “Sweet Bird of Youth” (1959), and “The Night of the Iguana” (1961). 

Much of Williams's most acclaimed work has been adapted for the cinema. He also wrote short stories, poetry, essays, and a volume of memoirs.

Arya Theater Hall is located within the premises of Iran Cinema, which is located at Shariati St. across from Bahar Shiraz St.

SS/SAB