The Glass Mendacity

Ark Theater, 2010

The Glass Mendacity is a spoof of Tennessee Williams, mashing together The Glass Menagerie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and A Streetcar Named Desire into one messed-up family gathering, played as comedy instead of tragedy. There’s Big Daddy and Big Amanda Dubois; their son Brick (played by a mannequin) and his wife Maggie the Cat; their daughter Blanche and her husband Stanley Kowalski; their youngest daughter Laura; and a gentleman caller, who appears in the final sce–okay, he shows up in scene one and never leaves. It’s funny on its own, but absolutely hilarious if you know the plays being parodied.

Looking along a hallway with a long geometric carpet over a wood floor, arches and columns spaced every so often, a few decorative columns against the walls, all dimly lit by yellowish, dish-shaped lamps hanging from the ceiling. The production we saw was at the Ark Theatre. It’s a tiny theater upstairs in the historic building that houses the Hayworth Theatre. In the 1920s, even office buildings had character! The lobby is basically entry-level landing to the rear stairway, but they’ve managed to fit in a small bar and a couple of tables. Update 2016: The Ark seems to be gone now, as the upper floor has since been turned back into offices. Because apparently that’s something Los Angeles doesn’t have enough of?