What are Memory Plays?

Hello friend, this time I’m going to talk about a kind of genre rarely seen these days-- “memory plays”. That’s right, I didn’t know of them either; I only just found out last year. I’ve studied two memory plays, and I absolutely love them; I mean, I love them more than I love Shakespeare! The twentieth century produced some of the greatest and most thought-provoking dramas ever. So, I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m writing about memory plays—it just popped into my head; it’s become such an obscure genre that I’d like to see if I can do it justice with this blog post. I hope you enjoy my blog post! [I’ll try to explain them as well as I can…].

A memory play is a play in which a lead character narrates the events of the play, as though looking at their past through a thin screen. The term was coined by famous American playwright Thomas Lanier “Tennessee” Williams—his most successful play, The Glass Menagerie, was described by him as a “memory play”. However, to cite The Glass Menagerie as the only memory play in existence is restricting oneself to a narrow definition of memory plays; Harold Pinter’s “Old Times” , “No Man’s Land” and “Betrayal” are memory plays as well. Brian Friel’s “Philadelphia, Here I Come!” and “Dancing at Lughnasa” are examples of this genre as well.

In The Glass Menagerie [I’ve written a blog post about this play, it’s probably my ultimate favourite], Williams describes the scene thus:

“The scene is memory and is therefore non-realistic.  Memory takes a lot of poetic license. It omits some details; others are exaggerated, according to the emotional value of the articles it touches, for memory is seated predominantly in the heart. The interior is therefore rather dim and poetic.”

And the narrator and protagonist, Tom Wingfield, opens the play in this manner:

“Yes, I have tricks in my pocket, I have things up my sleeve. But I am the opposite of a stage magician. He gives you illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion.” This is a clear narration that Tom is unreliable narrator, mainly due to the excessive emotional turmoil he experiences in the events that take place in the play. He further states: “This play is memory. Being a memory play, it is dimly lighted, it is sentimental, it is not realistic. In memory everything seems to happen to music. That explains the fiddle in the wings. I am the narrator of the play, and also a character in it. The other characters are my mother Amanda, my sister Laura and a gentleman caller who appears in the final scenes.”

The Glass Menagerie is Williams’ most autobiographical play; Williams closely resembles Tom, his mother resembles Amanda; his frail and mentally unstable sister Rose was the inspiration for Laura, though critics have suggested that Laura may incorporate elements of Williams himself, referencing his obsessive focus on one aspect of life [writing in Williams’ case and the “glass menagerie” in Laura’s]. Tom frequently breaks the fourth wall, directly addressing the audience at times; Amanda and Laura also revise their memories throughout. Memories are seen by Amanda as a means of escape from the unfavourable situation the Wingfields have found themselves in.

According to me—this isn’t an official interpretation—the characters weave in and out of the play, barely seeming human, though they are very human, of course—to me, the characters of the two memory plays I’ve studied seem like… mists. Yes, you read it right—since those characters are simply figments of the narrator’s memory [as far as we, the audience, are concerned]. For Tom, his memories form a tacit connection to the past, which he’s desperately trying to forget; I get that. I’ve tried to forget things, too. I find myself relating to all the characters in the Glass Menagerie, at different points of time.

“Modern” memory plays include most of Harold Pinter’s 1970s plays—including “Landscape” and “Silence”. Each of the characters have their own unique interpretations of events, and the audience really doesn’t whom to believe. “Dancing at Lughnasa” is a memory play, “focusing on the five unmarried Mundy sisters who struggle to maintain the family home… The memory controlling the play’s shape and substance belongs to Michael, the ‘love child’ of Chris, youngest of the sisters.”  “Philadelphia, Here I Come!” is one of the most frequently cited modern memory plays.

As I stated before, this genre has all but died; once I get the hang of memory plays, maybe I’ll write one myself, who knows? [I’m serious]. I know this post isn’t all that long, but a lot of information about memory plays doesn’t even exist anymore; how sad is that? I got all of this information from Wikipedia. Thank you so much, Wikipedia!!

I’m all fired up about reviving this genre now… heh!

That’s all for today. Thank you for reading!

I hope you like my article!