Lit &perf third draft

    The play Glass Menagerie is written by Tennessee Williams, This play was produced by Eddie Dowling and Louis J. Singer at the Playhouse Theatre in New York, on March 31, 1945. Laurette Taylor acted Amanda, Eddie Dowling acted Tom, Julie Haydon acted Laura and Anthony Ross acted Jim. Glass Menagerie is a very famous play. The story is about the tragic life of family Wingfield. This play is talking about the tragic life of the lower class. Laura is a character who has relatively short lines to say. In the text, Laura is a silent person. She always wants to be the nice person in the family, every time when Tom and Amanda are arguing Laura will be the person who stops this fight. Sometimes she also feels unconfident, she thinks she is crippled no one will like her. Sometimes she feels happy when she spends her time with Glass Menagerie.  

     In Act one scene two it is about the conversation between Laura and Amanda. In the beginning of the performance Laura was typing and she found out that her mom Amanda comes home. The conversation starts with Laura, She greeted her mother "Hello, Mother, I was just.."(Williams 15) Form the punctuation “ …” I can know that Laura is lit bit nervous because she is lying to her mother. At the beginning of the scene, Amanda always says something indirectly that makes Laura very confused. In the text Amanda says:“ deception, deception, deception.” (Williams 16) Laura scared by her mother. The play says Laura asked her mom shakily. So in the play I asked Amanda: “ How … was the DAR meeting mother?” (Williams 16) Laura asked Amanda: “ mother has something happened.” (Williams 16) Laura really wants to know what's happening. In the text Amanda says ”Deception, deception, deception!" (Williams 16)angrily, when I performed this part I showed Laura is confusing. Because Amanda just says “deception”, she doesn't say the reason. After that Laura begins to ask the reason of why does mom angry about her. From “ has something happened, mother? Mother, has something happened.” (Williams 16)From here I can know that Laura is very anxious to know the reason. In the performance I still used the normal tone to Amanda. But Amanda still says the sentence indirectly. “ Mother, I wished that you would tell me what happened!” (Williams 16) Form the “!” I knew that Laura is impatient. So in the performance I use tough tone to said this sentence

In the middle of Scene two, it's about the conflict part in this scene is that Amanda tells the truth to Laura that she went to the business college, no one in the college knows Laura. In the Play after Amanda tells the truth to Laura that she finds out Laura doesn't go to the college. That's why Laura says:” Oh…” (Williams 16) and I showed embarrassed when I said this sentence in the performance. In the play the author wrote “Even after you'd started catching that cold?" (Williams 17) Amanda showed that she is very confused. But Laura is very optimistic, Laura says "It was the lesser of two evils, Mother. I couldn't go back. I threw up on the floor!" (Williams 17), she thinks leave the college is the better choice. Then in the performance I showed the smile on my face, I used relaxed mood to say this sentence. During the argument Amanda doesn't understand why her daughter leaves the college. Laura thinks she did lots of interesting things after she leaves the college. “ I just went walking in all sorts of places---mostly in the park.” (Williams 17) She likes to spend time in the park, I think she may forget the cold when she is doing the thing she likes. Laura also says to her mom that "I went in the art museum and the birds-houses at the Zoo. I visited the penguins every day! Sometimes I did without lunch and went to the movies. Lately I've been spending most of my afternoons in the Jewel-box, that big glass house where they raise the tropical flowers." (Williams 18) Laura talks about many interesting things she did. I think she will enjoy her life more. She will have more time to relax, to experience the life. During the performance, in this part I stood up and showed the audience that Laura is happy when she spends time with these glass stuff. I think the theme of this scene is about the action of the kids in the lower class family is limited by their parents. But they have right to choose their own lifestyle.

In the Act one Scene three Laura only has two sentences. In the beginning Amanda says: "Why the women...hung up on me.” (Williams 21) she looks very angry. But Laura is very optimistic, “ Oh, mother, mother, Tom's trying to write.” (Williams 21) Laura feels good, she thinks Tom is trying to write is a good thing. But Amanda thinks writing is not useful, writing can’t earn money for the family. Laura and Amanda have a great difference that can show two characters different characteristics. Laura is excited about Tom’s writing, I used cheerful tone in the performance. At the end of scene three Tom breaks Laura’s Glass Menagerie. In the text Laura says “ my glass!--- Menagerie…” (Williams 24) Three punctuations in the sentence show that Laura is very sad, she can’t believe her only friends were broken by her brother. In the performance I followed the text I covered my face and turned away. After I read this part in the text, I knew that Laura is very upset and sad. Glass Menagerie is very important to Laura. On the one hand, these glass toy is Laura's friends. On the other hand, Glass Menagerie was given by Laura's dad. I think the reason why Laura always keeping the Glass Menagerie is Laura still missing her father. I acted very sadly, I want to show the how sad Laura is. I also add some crying sound in order to make the performance more vivid.
     In the play I acted Laura. In order to go inside the character I keep reading this scene. I want to know what does the character thinking when they say their lines. I use the techniques of Uta Hagen, I asked myself nine questions, in order to know more about the character and understand the relationship between Laura and Amanda. During the practicing I had trouble with memorizing the sentences and to show the emotion of my character, so I always found my teammates to help me and practice with me. In the play in order to let the audience to know my emotion I added some body languages. When I said: "I went in the art museum and the birds-houses at the Zoo... raise the tropical flowers." (Williams 18) I stood up and looks like I'm very happy to memorize the scene when Laura was staying in the Jewelry house. I will show Laura is very relaxed and enjoy to spend time in the museum, birds house and jewelry house. At first after I realized that I have to wear the dress during the acting I felt very embarrassed, it's my first time to act a female character. I searched this play online and trying to look how did actor Julie Haydon act Laura well. In this play Laura is a taciturn girl. In the family she barely talks. I should always sit on my chair and be silent.
In the performance, in scene two. When Amanda uses angry tone say to me I showed I'm afraid and I moved my chair backward. Because Laura is kind of shy and weak. In the beginning part, I was focusing on typing and showed a happy mood. Laura likes to do the thing she likes. She always has a good mood when she is doing her favorite things. In the performance when Laura is nervous or embarrassed, I will cut one sentence into two or three pieces, I think that will help to show the emotion better. When Laura says "Mother, when you are disappointed, you get that awful suffering look on your face. Just like the picture of Jesus' mom in the Museum." (Williams 18) From here I notice that Laura wants her mom to be happy, so I laughed in the performance. But after Amanda said " Hush." (Williams 18) I move backward and the smile faded from my face. I notice that Amanda is angry again. In scene three, Laura doesn't have many lines to say, so I added many body languages and some sigh sounds in this scene. I made some changes, it's different from the play. In the play, it says that Laura goes to curtain between dining-room and living-room. In scene three, I sit on the same chair as scene two, I was practicing typing. When Amanda and Tom were arguing I shook my head and made the sigh sounds.
For our light setting, in the beginning we turned on the light and the light focus on me and Amanda. For Tom the dim light focuses on him. When one scene was finished, the light will turn off and showed up again, this time the light will focus on Tom and Amanda. For the sound setting, we only have the broken sound of the glass and the sound of typing. We have two separate stages. One is for act one scene two (Amanda and Laura)and one is for act one scene three(Tom and Amanda). When Laura and Amanda were talking Tom sit on the chair, and when Tom and Amanda were arguing Laura sit on the chair. For our costume. I have to wear the dress because I act a female character. I have to choose the dress that is classic style.
    After I read this play, I gained knowledge from this play. it tells me what is the lower class family be like, and what is their lifestyle. It teaches me how I can improve my performance, when I say a sentence, what kind of body languages can I add. What I should do when others are speaking.

Work Cite
Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. New York. Dramatits Play Service INC, 1976.