The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie
Written by	Tennessee Williams
Characters	Amanda Wingfield Tom Wingfield Laura Wingfield Jim O'Connor Mr. Wingfield
Date premiered	1944
Place premiered	Chicago
Original language	English
Genre	Memory play
Setting	A St. Louis apartment, late 1930s

The Glass Menagerie^[1] is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his histrionic mother, and his mentally fragile sister. In writing the play, Williams drew on an earlier short story, as well as a screenplay he had written under the title of The Gentleman Caller.

The play premiered in Chicago in 1944. After a shaky start, it was championed by Chicago critics Ashton Stevens and Claudia Cassidy, whose enthusiasm helped build audiences so the producers could move the play to Broadway where it won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award in 1945. The Glass Menagerie was Williams' first successful play; he went on to become one of America's most highly regarded playwrights.