Glass Menagerie by Williams

            In Glass Menagerie, Williams goes beyond just an original drama script. Williams wrote his play to be sculpted and to have more “plastic” elements. His play includes moving soundtrack music, several slide projections, and a variation in mood lighting. The purpose of these elements are to create a more vivid and clear image for the audience. In class, we discussed the music and slide projections and how they enhanced the play.

           

            Williams dissolves and fades the lighting in the play to create a certain feeling for the audience. The lighting in the play drifts away from the realistic. Since the play is a memory, Williams keeps the stage dim to give the allusion of a distant thought. Spotlights are used to emphasis focus on a particular actor. For example in Scene 3, Tom and Amanda are having an argument. During this argument, William has the light focused on Laura’s figure. Even though Laura has no role in scene, Williams is trying to remind the audience that Laura still plays a part in the argument. Laura figure appears again in Scene 7, when Laura falls in before dinner with Jim, Tom and Amanda. Laura just lies on the sofa as dinner takes place, once again not having a role in the scene. This lighting creates a certain expression for the audience. It could be showing that she is more aloof from the average person. The lighting could also be seen as angelic or innocent. Lighting can be interpreted in many different ways and thus creates the essence of every viewer to sculpt their own play.