How do you approach the play from a designer’s point of view? 

From a designer’s point of view, you look at what the author originally intended. But most important, in a production which is not the premiere of a play, you approach it from the requirements of the director and the space in which it is being presented. Somewhere in there, of course, you get to make your own statement as the designer, but it’s all part of pulling these other pieces together visually and spatially.

You try not to treat a new play any differently than a premiere, I think; otherwise you begin designing in a lot of baggage from other productions, and that is why so many designs for “classic” plays of any kind begin to have a depressing sameness. A successful collaboration between designer and director will give a classic play the freshness of a premiere.

Colors and textures for The Glass Menagerie could be arrived at many different ways. However, for this production, they were arrived at in discussion with the director, Lauren Caldwell. She was inspired by Williams’ description of the “ideal” production of the play, which was far more abstract and expressionistic than the original, and most subsequent productions, ended up. She was further inspired by the textures and colors in various paintings by El Greco, which I have used as a jumping-off point for the design. Will the audience sit and say “Oh, Glass Menagerie as designed by El Greco!”? No, but we think it will communicate emotions to them in other ways, which we hope will add additional layers of meaning. 

The colors involved come from several of El Greco’s backgrounds, especially stormy skies. Grays, olives, blacks, ochres and similar colors all come into play. They swirl in the background of the more realistic pieces of the set. They are augmented [and justified, in part] by the fact that Williams described the set he saw in his mind in terms of the colors of “blood and mustard.” 

What significance does the picture frame have in this set rendering? 

Lauren Caldwell, the director, wanted to literally “frame” the production as a memory in Tom’s mind. Her idea was also to highlight various everyday objects which have meaning in the context of the play in the way suggested by Williams’ notes. The frame is part of this idea; you will notice others when you see the production.