Center Stage Presents 'The Glass Menagerie' at SAC

As the theatrical troupe Center Stage settles into its new space in the theater at Southampton Arts Center, it is also venturing into some new terrain in terms of its offerings.

This weekend, Center Stage will present a reading of Tennessee Williams’s 1944 play “The Glass Menagerie,” directed by Joan Bennett Lyons. A total of three performances will be offered on Saturday and Sunday at SAC. This reading comes on the heels of the company’s first two SAC offerings, which were both radio plays — a recreation of H.G. Wells’s “War of the Worlds” in October followed by an original Christmas production in December, both directed by company founder Michael Disher.

While SAC is a new venue for Center Stage, the company has a long history in Southampton Village, having been in-residence for several years at the nearby Southampton Cultural Center. The Center Stage shows went dormant for four years or so when Disher needed to take time away from the South Fork to deal with some serious health issues. When he decided to revive the troupe this past October, he did so at SAC with a new focus — more flexible and nimble productions.

The result is a company that relies on fewer rehearsals and productions more akin to workshops in style than full blown spectacles. With minimal sets and lighting effects, these plays are designed to be presented over the course of a single weekend, rather than in the multi-week runs Center Stage offered in the past. These longer runs have become more difficult to pull off in recent years, due to the fact that most community theater actors also have day jobs and committing to multi-week productions is difficult.

When asked how she is adapting to the new format, Lyons, who has worked with Disher for years and directed several previous productions, responded, “I do and I don’t like it. I like it because there is less pressure to do a giant set — though l love my sets — and all the costuming and being in the theater for three weeks. On the other hand, it feels like there’s more pressure because the rehearsal period is shorter.

“I wish I had more time — every director says that — but you get a certain time frame and you work at it,” she said.

As plays go, “The Glass Menagerie” is considered a classic. Set in St. Louis in the 1940s, it tells the story of Amanda Wingfield, a faded Southern Belle, who shares her apartment with her adult children, Tom, and his older sister Laura, both in their 20s. Abandoned by her husband, Amanda and her financially strapped family now rely on Tom’s low-level job in a shoe warehouse for survival.

But Tom is eager to leave home too and is quietly plotting his escape. Meanwhile, Tom’s painfully shy and insecure sister, Laura, collects glass figurines to occupy her time. She is isolated and withdrawn and very self-conscious about a limp that she developed after an illness. Amanda is desperate to find Laura a suitable “gentleman caller” who can support them all and, under pressure, Tom invites Jim, a coworker and former high school classmate, home for dinner to meet his sister. But Amanda’s high hopes for the family’s future fade when the dinner doesn’t go as planned.

“There are so many things going on in the play — hopes and dreams dashed, feeling stuck, feeling trapped,” Lyons said. “The symbols, motifs and themes are emotional.”

While this weekend’s production of “The Glass Menagerie” is technically a reading, Lyons explained that some portions of the script will be memorized by the cast, which features Tamara Froebel Salkin as Amanda, Zianya Quiroz Kane as Laura, Vincenzo Harty as Tom, Kieran Conlon as Jim and Kristin Whiting as the host.

“It’s a staged reading on steroids, and not like any staged reading I’ve been to where the cast is seated,” she said. “There are some entrances and exits, music, lighting and physicality. I’m trying to do more with it than just a reading on a bare stage.”

Though “The Glass Menagerie” is perhaps Tennessee Williams’s most famous play, Lyons admits she has never seen it live on stage. She knows the script well, however, having taken part in readings from it.

“Michael Disher used to do all these scene study classes. In any scene study class, there is always some Tennessee Williams going on, for some reason almost always ‘The Glass Menagerie.’ I did Amanda’s monologue. It always stuck with me,” she said.

“I haven’t seen it on stage, but I think that’s a good thing,” she added. “It doesn’t color you to go in any certain way.”

Lyons appreciates the design and feeling of the theater at SAC, which is a new space for her. With its small stage, she finds it has a black box theater feel that is both intimate and welcoming — perfect for a Tennessee Williams play with just four characters.

“This is a workshop for me. Will this work?” she asks. “It’s all experimental. We’re new to the Southampton Arts Center; they’ve been very welcoming.”

Performances of Center Stage’s production of Tennessee Williams’s “The Glass Menagerie” are Saturday, January 27, at 2 and 7 p.m. and Sunday, January 28, at 2 p.m. at the Southampton Arts Center, 25 Jobs Lane, Southampton. Tickets are $20 ($15 SAC members) at southamptonartscenter.org or by calling 631-283-0967. Complete the night out with a complimentary dessert at Plaza Café after the evening show with proof of ticket purchase, 15 percent off at Southampton Publick House or a $25 brunch (tax and tip included) on Sunday, January 28, at Fellingham’s. Proof of ticket purchase and reservation required.