For its 55th anniversary, The Glass Menagerie is being offered by two different local companies. In February, the play will be done by the Louisville Repertory Company, but first out of the starting gate is the Roundtable Theater at the Rudyard Kipling in an earnest, workmanlike production that occasionally catches fire. Peter Howard's strong performance as Tom -- more angry young man than wistful dreamer -- shifts the balance of Tennessee Williams' play to him rather than to his clinging, bossy mother Amanda, who usually carries the show.
Margaret Wuertz's mannered performance as Amanda, with a flat Midwestern accent instead of the character's usual Southern drawl, is jarring. It's hard to believe she was ever the belle of the ball, surrounded by all those gentlemen callers. As Laura, the slightly crippled sister who cherishes her collection of little glass animals, Becky LeCron is touchingly shy but never as ethereal as Laura usually is portrayed. Joshua Lane gets top marks as Jim O'Connor, Laura's so-called gentleman caller. Lane lights up the stage in portraying the eager-to-please ex-high school hero who wound up in a dead end job after graduation. His is the most effectively realized performance.
