IN A story woven from insubstantial memories, a former Southern belle finds sustenance in the ghosts of the suitors of her youth, while her son scans the distance for an escape route and her disabled daughter stagnates in front of a row of glass animals.

Into their claustrophobic existence steps an unsuspecting gentleman caller creating a pivotal moment out of a simple dinner engagement.

Tennessee Williams’s 1944 play is given a modern treatment in this engaging production by theatre company Shared Experience.

But while projected symbolic montages of dancing couples and dynamic steam trains add to the atmosphere, the characterisation and dialogue continue to stand alone.

Memories cannot be trusted, warns the narrator figure Tom Wingfield, from whose recollections the tale is stitched. But romanticised as the characters may be seen through his eyes, in the hands of their players they are extremely engaging.

Eternally youthful Imogen Stubbs swings between girlish coquettishness and motherly hand-wringing as Amanda, the abandoned wife despairing of her daughter’s future.

Laura, who is so shy that attending typing classes rendered her physically sick, is subtly played by Emma Lowndes, who brings out the naivety in the girl without making her seem clownish.

The emotions expressed in the scene between her and the charismatic gentleman caller (Kyle Soller) feel so fragile it is almost painful to watch.

The play has a dream-like feel enhanced by clever lighting and music that evokes images of shards of glass.

Tom (played by Patrick Kennedy) slips in and out of the story, sometimes vividly a part of it, other times observing his memories from afar. His stifled past is difficult for him to recall, and it brings a lump to the throats of those watching it.

THE Glass Menagerie is at the Playhouse until Saturday.

Laura Davis