A New Interpretation of Tennessee Williams’ ‘The Glass Menagerie’ Comes to Atlanta
Theatrical Outfit will open its 49th season with a new staging of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie at the Balzer Theater at Herren’s. The production marks a return of the Southern Gothic classic to Atlanta, with a design and casting approach that aims to reframe the play’s enduring themes for contemporary audiences.
The play, first staged in 1944, is widely regarded as Williams’ breakout work and a foundational piece of American memory drama. Set in a Depression-era St. Louis apartment, The Glass Menagerie follows the Wingfield family—Amanda, a faded Southern belle; her son Tom, a warehouse worker and aspiring poet; Laura, his reclusive sister; and Jim, the gentleman caller whose visit disrupts the fragile equilibrium of their lives.
Theatrical Outfit’s staging introduces a contemporary lens to The Glass Menagerie, emphasizing the play’s emotional architecture through stylized design and performance. Rather than leaning into period nostalgia, the production uses abstraction and contrast—particularly in lighting, sound, and scenic elements—to underscore the characters’ psychological isolation and yearning. Director Matt Torney’s approach centers on the tension between memory and reality, with a visual language that resists realism and invites audiences to inhabit Tom’s fractured recollections. This interpretive shift reframes the play not as a domestic tragedy, but as a meditation on escape, authorship, and the cost of tenderness.
Atlanta-based actor Terry Burrell will lead the cast as Amanda Wingfield, joined by Devon Hales as Laura, Stephen Ruffin as Tom, and Matt Mercurio as Jim. The production is directed by Matt Torney, with dramaturgy by Addae Moon.
The show runs from Oct. 29 through Nov. 23. Tickets and season packages are available at theatricaloutfit.org or by calling 678-528-1500.
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