[Photos] Kim Sung-ryung and Kwon Yul rehearse Tennessee Williams classic 'The Glass Menagerie' ahead of Oct. 17 opening

'Seoul Arts Center' has released exclusive photos from intensive rehearsals for 'The Glass Menagerie', its Towol traditional play production, ahead of the Oct. 17 opening, featuring cast members including 'Kim Sung-ryung' and 'Kwon Yul'.

The Wingfield family's harsh reality during the Great Depression of the 1930s

A landmark work by 'Tennessee Williams', one of the masters of modern American theater, 'The Glass Menagerie' is set during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The finely drawn drama portrays the tragedy of the Wingfield family, whose members live under the weight of a harsh reality while clinging to their own fantasies and wounds. Tom, the narrator and central character, reflects the playwright's autobiographical self. Following his fragmented memories, the play examines in depth the family's difficult life, the love and resentment intertwined beneath it, and its fleeting hopes.

An ensemble of complex emotions fills CJ Towol Theater

The rehearsal photos offer a glimpse of 11 actors carefully building the stories of Amanda, Tom, Laura and Jim. 'Kim Sung-ryung' and 'Choi Jung-won' play Amanda, a mother trapped in memories of her glamorous past and obsessed with finding a suitor for her daughter, Laura. They portray in three dimensions her strength in holding the family together in her husband's absence, her blindly high expectations for her children and the deep anxiety beneath them. 'Jung Woon-sun', 'Jung Sae-byul' and 'Im Se-mi' play Laura, a daughter withdrawn into her own world, delicately conveying her fragile yet pure inner life and heightening the play's lyricism.

The Towol traditional play series' centerpiece takes over CJ Towol Theater

'Jang Seung-jo', 'Kwon Yul' and 'Kim Kyung-nam' play Tom, torn between his sense of indebtedness to his family and his longing for freedom. They persuasively portray the character's complicated inner life, shifting between his sharp anger in confrontations with his mother and his tender compassion for his sister. 'Moon Yoo-kang', 'Bae Hoon' and 'Choi Jung-woo' join the cast as Jim, who represents the vitality of the real world, adding tension to the drama. Following Seoul Arts Center's 'Othello' in 2023 and 'Hamlet' in 2024, its ambitious production of 'The Glass Menagerie' will run from Oct. 17 through Nov. 22 at Seoul Arts Center's CJ Towol Theater. The varied emotional currents created by the actors' different combinations are the production's biggest draw.