1999 Miracle Yearbook

T hemes of loyalty, re- sponsibility, love,re- gret, memories and re- lationships arecommon to all of us. Cedarville's fall play, The Glass Menagerie, ad- dressed all ofthese issues. The play by Tennessee Williams was first produced on Broadway in 1945. The Glass Menagerie is William's most autobio- graphical play; he called it a "memory play." The Cedarville cast, di- rected by Gary Barker, per- formed the drama set in St. Louis in the 1940s. Amanda Wingfield lived in a run- down apartment with her crippled daughter, Laura, and alcoholic son Tom. Amanda was caught up in her memories of a genteel Southern past. She struggled with how to help her children achieve happiness. Tom wanted to pursue his own life, but also felt a sense ofresponsibility to his mother and sister. Laura dealt with her own situation of being handicapped and unable to follow the dreams her mother had for her. Instead of attending the college in which her mother had en- rolled her, Laura skipped class to play with her collec- tion ofglass animals.Due to her inability to function in society,Lauraisatragicchar- acter. When Amanda realizes that the dream of finding a husbandforherdaughter will not be achieved, she is crushed. At last, Tom can't take his mother's well-mean- ing,but suffocating pressure any more and leaves home. Adjunct professor, Rebecca Baker, played the part of Amanda.Baker is fa- miliar with the Alford stage, having directed many Stqyr,,b3INson Cedarville dramas herself. "I think we have a lot to learn from the production," Baker said. "It is a poignant and painful reminder of how important our families are. When God created thefamily structure, he gave us a great gift. It is a treasure not to be trampledon.Inthisplay wesee what happens when a family starts to fall apart.Every night after rehearsal I wentinto my house to find some member of my family to hug. The play helps usrememberhow easy it is to hurt someone, sometimes irrevocably. Christ isnotinvolvedintheWingfield family,and this is felt." &Aida(Baker)shaysoffher dress to her daughter, Laura Nrof,andt gentleman,caller,_lint.pa). t m,(Brown)is weary optic khother's (Baker)p-ers-istant nagging thathe shouldquitftwkimg. In,pail)meets- Lawn,Nroff)fir the, fi attimeas ker brother, TOktl,prown,), watchesfrom,bekaut. FALL PLAY C)