Play Guide [1.2MB PDF] - Arizona Theatre Company

MEMORY
MEMORY PLAYS
The Glass Menagerie is often described as a memory
play. Just what does that mean? In the stage directions
Tennessee Williams writes “The scene is memory and
is therefore nonrealistic. Memory takes a lot of poetic
license. It omits some details, others are exaggerated,
according to the emotional value of the articles it
touches, for memory is seated predominantly in the
heart.” A memory play is therefore a play that is set
apart from reality. In The Glass Menagerie, the events
of the play are being remembered through the lens
of Tom’s experiences. Thus, each event is colored by
his perspective. Memory plays must have a narrator,
someone whose memories guide the audience
through the events of the play.
Actor Catalina Maynard who plays
Amanda in ATC’s production of The
Glass Menagerie
TIME FRAME
Memory plays became
popular in American
playwriting after World
War II. At that time “many
American playwrights
Actor Barbra Wengerd who plays Laura in
ATC’s production of The Glass Menagerie
OTHER MEMORY PLAYS
To Kill A Mockingbird
The Glass Menagerie
The Kite Runner
Dancing at Lughnasa
How I Learned to Drive
I Never Sang for My Father
Side Man
began to tap into the power of memory as a narrative device.
Infl uenced by the forces that were shaping American society,
especially the psychoanalytical concepts of Sigmund Freud
and Carl Jung, these playwrights used the concept of memory
to fuel non-linear plots and intense character development.”*
As a memory play, Tennessee’s Williams’ The Glass Menagerie
explored territory that was new and exciting to theatre goers
because it was something that had never been seen before.
- * from http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/2378/
The Glass Menagerie takes place in 1937. The novel Gone With the Wind has already
been published and the headline on Tom’s newspaper reads “Franco Triumphs.”
Below are some events that were happening during that time:
Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 9