Tennessee Williams classic coming to Canebrake stage

Published 2:00 pm Monday, April 20, 2015

Kirk Brooker, Karen Hill Dean and Katherine Oakes rehearse an early dinner scene from Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie.” The play will be performed Friday through Monday at the Old School on Main.

Kirk Brooker, Karen Hill Dean and Katherine Oakes rehearse an early dinner scene from Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie.” The play will be performed Friday through Monday at the Old School on Main.

A literary classic, Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie,” is coming to The Canebrake Players’ stage this week.

The play will be performed Friday, April 24 through Monday, April 27 at the Old School on Main.

The play is being directed by Susanna Naisbett, who says she’s learned much about Williams and the play in the past few weeks.

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“Every night at rehearsal, I pick up some symbolism that I didn’t get before,” Naisbett said. “It’s fascinating.”

“The Glass Menagerie” is a four-character play with strong autobiographical characters based on Williams himself, his mother and his mentally-fragile sister. The play shot Williams from relative obscurity to one of the country’s most famous playwrights.

Karen Hill Dean of Thomasville plays faded Southern belle Amanda Winfield, while Kirk Brooker and Katherine Oakes play her two children, Tom and Laura Winfield. Jakes Oakes portrays the gentleman caller Jim O’Connor.

Jennifer Roemen is doing costumes. Deborah Griffith is stage manager, while Daniel and Kelley Jordan are handling lighting and sound. Ann Taylor Wood and Brian Tripp are stage hands.

“I’m excited to work with such talented people, cast and crew,” Naisbett said.

The play will be performed at 7 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Monday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students.

“The Glass Menagerie” is being performed as a tribute to Walter Brown McCord, an early Canebrake director, and in conjunction with “The Way We Worked” Smithsonian exhibit and the Southern Literary Trial.

For more information, follow The Canebrake Players on Facebook.