Vance-Granville Community College has announced an upcoming production of “The Glass Menagerie,” the Tennessee Williams classic, for the college’s fifth annual Dinner Theater.
The cast and crew have also been named for the dinner theater, which is scheduled for the evenings of Thursday, April 27, and Friday, April 28, in the Civic Center on VGCC’s Main Campus in Vance County. Dinner begins at 6 p.m. each evening.
The cast is set to feature Brittney Patterson of Henderson as Amanda Wingfield; Ben Taylor of Franklinton as Tom Wingfield, her son; Samantha Hines of Henderson as Laura Wingfield, her daughter; and Jordan Bunting of Rocky Mount as Jim O’Conner, the “gentleman caller.”
Members of the crew include Chadstity Copeland of Henderson (Assistant to the Director/Stage Manager), Allison Hines of Henderson (Assistant Stage Manager/Props), Jamie McGinn of Wake Forest (Costumes/Assistant for Props), Camden Jones of Henderson (Lighting/Sound operator), Lauren Elliott of Oxford (Head of Props) and Mya Hargrove and Evan O’Geary, both of Henderson (Hair and Make-up).
All are current students at the college, except for Elliott, an alumna and VGCC staff member.
Betsy Henderson, VGCC’s Department Chair/Instructor of Humanities and Fine Arts, is the director of the play.
First staged in 1944, “The Glass Menagerie” is a “memory play” (narrated by one of the characters, recalling his experiences) and is based in part on Tennessee Williams’s own memories of his family. In 1945, the play premiered on Broadway, won the prestigious New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for the best American play of the year, and launched Williams to fame. “The Glass Menagerie” has been adapted for television twice and as a Hollywood feature film twice. It has been revived for the Broadway stage numerous times, including a new production starring Sally Field that is currently in previews. A drama of great tenderness, charm and beauty, “The Glass Menagerie” has become one of the most famous plays of the modern theatre.
The story focuses on Amanda, a “faded Southern belle” who lives in poverty in a dingy St. Louis apartment with her son, Tom, and her daughter, Laura. The crux of the action comes when Tom invites a young man of his acquaintance to eat dinner with the family. Jim, the caller, is at once pounced upon by Amanda as a possible husband for Laura.
Tickets are $30 and are scheduled to go on sale on March 22. For more information, visit www.vgcc.edu/dinnertheater.
–VGCC–