Lauren's Laudare

Once again, Steppenwolf succeeds in another production of The Glass Menagerie for its Theatre for Young Adults series. The performances in this annual series are great introductions to theatre, regardless of age. While youth appropriate, they are not watered down. They remain sufficiently meaty for adult viewers, new or experienced.

Steppenwolf brings us its take on this Tennessee Williams classic story of a family enduring financial crisis, loss and absence. Mother Amanda Wingfield pines for her glorious Southern past and longs for the better life that might have been had her husband not left them years ago. The past is just as much a character as any individual as Wingfield's memories and Mr. Wingfield's absence remains a potent, constant force in the lives of Amanda, son Tom and daughter Laura.

Steppenwolf's version was fresh, powerful and unique. James T. Alfred commands as central character and narrator Tom constantly conveying Tom's tortured nature as he wrestles between his duty to himself and to his family, who rely on him for financial support. Tom's crime is dreaming and desiring a fulfilled life beyond the constrictive, claustrophobic barriers of the family's apartment.

Shenesia Davis brings us a rare, very physical portrayal of Amanda that also shows her vulnerability. Amanda is as irritating, domineering and loquacious as ever but Davis also tenderly portrays Amanda's deep pain from a life that has gone so incredibly, unpredictably off track. "[T]he future becomes the present, the present the past, and the past turns into everlasting regret if you don't plan for it" is Amanda's motivating principle. Amanda, however misguided, deeply loves her children, and tries mightily to plan for their futures, especially for crippled, painfully shy daughter, Laura. Nambi Kelley succeeds at bringing us a Laura that is simultaneously frail and fragile but with an inner strength generally not portrayed. Anthony Fleming's charisma as gentleman caller Jim conveys the strengths that made Jim a big man on campus in high school as well as his weaknesses which explain why his star has fallen since his glory high school days.

Steppenwolf brings a twist to "The Glass Menagerie" with an all Black cast. Unfortunately, Steppenwolf wasted an opportunity to present this tale from an African American perspective. Steppenwolf simply replaced a White cast with a Black one, without adjusting the story to reflect the lives of Black people in the post-Depression 1940s of St. Louis. Steppenwolf's failure to revise the storyline begs the question - why have a Black cast? Why actively promote the play as having an all Black cast if the story is not adjusted to reflect the reality of Black people? It was jarring, and well as inaccurate, to hear Amanda discuss her membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution or regret Tom's decision not to attend Washington University. In the 1940s, both were impossible. The play includes some other similarly impossible scenarios.

Photo by Peter Coombs It is patently false that the stories of Black people are not universal. The decision not to revise the play gives credence to this false notion. It was quite possible to revise this story of family, memory and desire in a manner that kept it true to the experiences of Black people in 1940s St. Louis, significant to a range of viewers and true to the thrust of Williams' story. I would have preferred Steppenwolf to make the casting of an all Black cast relevant. Instead, Steppenwolf's choice requires us to view them as White people.

In the post-show discussion, one of the producers commented that only the adult viewers discern the play's historical inaccuracies. Our young people's failure to recognize the incongruence between the play's language and the reality of Black people is not a legitimate defense for the play not addressing these inconsistencies. If anything, since the play is targeted to young people, the play ought to be edifying and accurate. Unfortunately, our young people's inability to pick up on these historical inaccuracies is another indictment on the failure to educate young people in basic history.

Theatre for Young People is designed to entice new audiences to theatre, especially people of color in a world of increasing ethnic diversity. It seems more important then for the play to acknowledge and affirm the experiences of Black people, rather than ignore them.