To honour its 20th season of bringing top-quality plays to Squamish, Between Shifts Theatre is presenting performances of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie from April 3 to 5 and April 10 to 12 at the Eagle Eye Community Theatre.
“As it is our 20th season, we unanimously decided as a group that we wanted to perform a classic,” said Between Shifts’ Michael Hewitt, who is directing the production. “I’ve been wanting to do Glass Menagerie for a long time, as it still resonates as one of the greatest plays of all time.”
Written in 1944, Glass Menagerie is a famous four-character play detailing the lives of Amanda Wingfield and her children Tom and Laura, who live in poverty in a dingy St. Louis apartment. Williams once coined the term “memory play” to describe the work.
“The play is all recollections from Tom,” Hewitt said. “And Nancy Thompson, our set designer, has done an excellent job of creating a set that reflects that it is a memory play… both real and surreal. The set coupled with an original score by Joelysa Pankanea and great lighting help in creating this sense of dream or memory for the play.”
Hewitt also credits his cast (Kathryn Daniels as Amanda, Todd Weitzel as Tom, Maclean Falkins as Jim, and Sasha Law as Laura) with doing a great job of bringing the classic work to life.
“The cast is so strong,” he said. “Kathryn Daniels as the mother is so perfect. They are all so good they will pull you into the story and connect you with the characters’ feelings and emotions.
“Although the play is 70 years old, it is still so relevant today, because so many of its themes relate to the way people live and deal with one another in relationships and with family. The language of the play itself is so incredibly vivid, and the way he wrote it… the language is so rich, it brings the characters to life.”
Hewitt said Glass Menagerie, although more sombre than the usual Between Shifts, will still resonate with audiences.
“It’s such a beautiful story,” he said. “Everyone has had struggles, so I think no matter if you are 15 or 50, you’ll appreciate and connect with the story.”
Along with directing the latest production, Hewitt also sits on the board of directors for Between Shifts and said the troupe of volunteer thespians has no plans to change what it’s been doing successfully for 20 seasons.
“Our vision has always been to allow the community to experience real theatre,” he said. “And that vision is going to stay the same for the next 20 years.”
Tickets for Between Shifts Theatre’s presentation of The Glass Menagerie are available at Billie’s Flower House, Squamish and Republic Bicycles, and online at betweenshiftstheatre.com.
