The Glass Menagerie
Created By
Robert, Cole, Lauren, and Alexis
• In the play of The Glass Menagerie the use of
“magic lantern” slides was called for in the
production notes
• The slides called for
were to be similar to
the format of this slide
show presentation.
• They were intended to
be projected on a wall
of the set, according
to Terry Teachout
• Terry Teachout wrote an article called The
Irrelevant Masterpiece: The lessons of the
enduring success of The Glass Menagerie.
• The article talked about the play, and how the
“dreamlike” setting helped the play strive
• Many times the play called for a picture, or
phrase to be projected on the lantern slides
• The point of the slides was to give the
audience a feeling that the play was
“dreamlike”
• The slides also gave a subjective view of the
events occurring during the play
• The original Broadway
production dropped the
slides. Terry Teachout said
that at the time the play
was produced (1945), it
was unorthodox to have
the magic lantern slides,
and that is why they were
dropped.
• Now, with the new technology, it is no longer
unorthodox to project images on the side of a
set wall. But a question arises, are the images
needed?
• We think they are not needed. If we were to
produce the play nowadays, we would also
leave them out because the play can be
produced without the slide projections and
still give the illusion of an anti-naturalistic
atmosphere.
• One way the play kept its “dreamlike” feel was
by the set.
• Terry Teachout described the set to often have
translucent and transparent scenic interior
walls.
• The translucent and
transparent scenic interior
walls were used to see
what was happening in the
alley behind the house,
while allowing the
audience to see what was
happening in the house at
the same time.
• Another feature of the play that gave it the
“dreamlike” feel that Teachout pointed out in
his article, was the way the characters spoke.
The everyday talk the characters used made
the play easy to relate to for the audience.
• Although the magic
lantern slides were
dropped from the
production, the music
was not. Terry Teachout
said that the music was
used to also make the
play feel “dreamlike”
• Many aspects are used
in the play, The Glass
Menagerie, that give it
a “dreamlike” feel. The
use of the magic lantern
slides are not necessary
to the play. Adding them
back would neither
benefit nor harm the
final production so it is
easier to just leave them
out.