‘The Glass Menagerie’ exposes the fragility in us all

Published 9:00 am Thursday, October 8, 2015

Fred Yockers returns to theater to direct the Glass Menagerie, his first play in five years and his first time directing at San Juan Community Theatre.

A longtime high school drama teacher and director in the community, Yockers retired five years ago. Why now, and why “The Glass Menagerie?”

Yockers said that it didn’t come about necessarily through a burning desire to return to theater, but rather when given the opportunity to direct his favorite play with some highly talented local actors, he couldn’t say no.

“The Glass Menagerie,” which Yockers first saw in his early college years, features four characters each caught up in their own fixations: Amanda Wingfield, a faded, abandoned southern belle, her son Tom, an aspiring poet, and her daughter Laura, an introverted, self-conscious girl and a gentleman caller named Jim O’Connor.

“I have always loved this play,” Yockers said. “It was very formative, and it left me with a very strong impression.”

The play is written by Tennessee Williams, writer of “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and other classics that have survived time. Yockers describes Williams as a master of words who creates despairing situations of great angst, balanced with laughter.

“There’s a few iconic American playwrights, and he’s one of them. There’s nothing by Tennessee Williams that I haven’t liked,” Yockers said.

Quoting a professor he had long ago, Yockers said that watching a Williams play is like going to the dentist to get your teeth pulled – full of pain and discomfort, but leaves you with an open space afterwards.

This will be the first time Yockers has directed adults, since his long career was with high schoolers.

“These people are such devoted, hardworking people, it’s an honor to work with them,” Yockers said of the four actors he’s working with.

Susan Williams plays mother Amanda Wingfield, Tyler Ryan plays her son, Tom Wingfield, Beatrice Grauman-Boss plays daughter Laura Wingfield and James Gull plays Jim O’Connor. Georgia Smith is stage manager and assistant to the director.

When directing a play, Yockers said, it gives the director an opportunity to be a visionary, especially in a Tennessee Williams play where the dialogue and delivery can be manipulated, and the director can guide the audience through different emotions. Yockers touched on suspension of disbelief in theatre, where the audience sets aside their realistic interpretations and are carried along with the play.

“I almost catch my breath when people are watching a play I directed and they laugh or they cry,” Yockers said. “People are giving you their disbelief and saying: ‘Here is my heart, do something with it.’”

“The Glass Menagerie” plays at the Whittier Theatre Oct. 9 and 10 at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 11 at 2 p.m., and Oct. 15-17, 22-24 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the theatre box office or on their website.