Series To Examine The Family In Modern Drama

By Jan Howard

Are your family relationships in a muddle? Do you think your family is a mess? You haven’t seen anything yet.

Retired teachers Gordon Williams and Liz Arneth will facilitate a discussion of four plays dealing with family relationships in a series entitled “The Family in Modern Drama.”

The series, which is free and open to the general public, begins March 22 at 7:30 pm in the meeting room of the C.H. Booth Library.

The plays to be discussed include The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, on March 22; The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman, on March 29; Fences by August Wilson, on April 5; and Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Eugene O’Neill, on April 26.

“If you think your family is dysfunctional, wait until you meet these people,” Ms Arneth said.

“They make you feel normal,” Mr Williams said.

Through the four plays, Mr Williams and Ms Arneth will lead the group in exploring questions such as what makes an American family American, how do modern families differ from “traditional” families, and what has caused the erosion of traditional family values.

In addition to discussing the plays, the group will view films of The Glass Menagerie and The Little Foxes and may take a road trip to Hartford to see Elizabeth Ashley in The Glass Menagerie.

The sessions may include reading sections of the plays out loud or acting out scenes, if participants are willing, Mr Williams said.

“These plays are the work of premier playwrights of America,” he noted.

 “The plays represent different cross sections of American life,” Ms Arneth said, among which are black, Irish, and southern families. There is an interesting black character in Fences, she noted. 

 “The Glass Menagerie is a very symbolic play,” she said. “These three people are trapped by their need for each other. It is one of the great dysfunctional families. It is very autobiographical.”

“It reads and plays beautifully,” Mr Williams said. “I saw it at Long Wharf with Joanne Woodward as the mother. It is set in 1939, and the family is in dire straits. The question is what does the son owe his sister and mother.”

The plays depict problems and issues that are representative of American life, Ms Arneth said.

“As an English teacher, I’ve found that everything we read gets back to the family,” she noted.

“The richest drama is family drama,” Mr Williams said. “When it’s a family-centered drama, it has the most powerful impact of any drama. This is something special. The Long Day’s Journey into Night is about a very dysfunctional family.”

“We will look at the elements of a family and how they address issues,” Ms Arneth said. “There are moral issues everyone has to address. There’s lots of rearranging in the family unit.

“We chose these plays because they reflect dysfunction,” she said. However, Mr Williams noted that there are some points of redemption in the plays

Ms Arneth said the message conveyed by the plays is that “You survive, and go on.”

Ms Arneth and Mr Williams would like participants to be fully involved in the discussion of the plays. Last year, they led a series in which books reflecting the 1960s were discussed. They were excited by the enthusiastic and meaningful response of those who attended.

“We want them to bring their insights and diversity to the group,” Mr Williams said. “We are just the facilitators.”

Ms Arneth is a former English teacher at Ridgefield High School. She graduated from Queens College of the University of New York with a bachelor of arts degree in English literature and a master’s in education with a specialty in English. A teacher for 20 years, Ms Arneth also earned a sixth year in administration.

Mr Williams, a teacher for 39 years, taught history and humanities at Trumbull High School. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver and his master of arts and sixth year from Wesleyan.

Multiple copies of the plays are available at the library. Sign up at the circulation desk or by calling 426-4533.