Sierra Rep brings “Menagerie” of emotions to Sonora theater

A delve into the the soul of an American family via one of theater’s most iconic plays arrives on the Mother Lode stage in October.

Sierra Repertory Theatre presents Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie,” the story of an overbearing mother, her resentful son, her fragile daughter and an unsuspecting gentleman caller. The play runs Oct. 6-29 at SRT’s East Sonora Theatre.

One of the playwright’s most highly regarded plays, characters in “The Glass Menagerie” are based on Williams’ own life with his mother and sister – the play’s overbearing matriarch Amanda Wingfield and her painfully shy daughter Laura.

The story carries complex themes of duty, love, abandonment and self-deception and is a deeply autobiographical story and window into Williams’ past, according to a press release from SRT.

The action is narrated by Tom, who draws from his own memory to tell the story of his family, circa 1937 St. Louis. Tom supports his mother and sister by working at a shoe warehouse but is miserable in his job and longs to be a poet. He’s anxious to leave the family home and his domineering mother. Amanda, who was abandoned by her husband, desperately wants to find a man to help secure a future for Laura. But Laura, whose prized possession is a set of glass animal figurines from the play’s title, was left with a limp from a childhood illness and is so mentally fragile she’s isolated herself from the outside world.

Amanda orders Tom to find a “gentleman caller” for Laura from among his co-workers at the warehouse and when Tom invites casual friend Jim O’Connor to the family home for dinner, things look up before taking a heart-wrenching turn.

Christopher Hayhurst – who’s won a Sacramento regional theater Elly Award for his portrayal of Jim in a Stage 3 production of “Menagerie” – stars as Tom in the SRT production. He hopes audiences will see beyond his character’s rougher emotions while he’s tested by his circumstance.

“I hope that they see his love. For his sister, for his writing and for his mother regardless of their disagreements,” Hayhurst said in an email interview. “I think that he’s incredibly repressed and yet he fights so hard to contain his frustration, sadness, resentment and anger.”

“The Glass Menagerie” premiered on Broadway in 1945 and has seen several revivals on the Great White Way. It’s been voiced on radio, videotaped for television and adapted into two American films. Film versions also have been made in India and Iran, according to SRT.

Company Artistic Director Scott Viets directs the play for SRT, which also stars Kelsea Baker as Laura, Joseph Dalfonso as Jim and Lori Russo as Amanda.

Hayhurst, an actor from Stockton who has worked with other theater companies in the Modesto and Mother Lode regions, makes his SRT debut with “Menagerie.” He said it’s been a “true pleasure to work with the company and fellow cast members.”

“They are professional and mindful of the art,” he said. “The cast is incomparably talented and equally excited to be here. That kind of attitude only enhances a show.”

This story was originally published September 28, 2017 at 12:20 PM with the headline "Sierra Rep brings “Menagerie” of emotions to Sonora theater."