The famed Tennessee Williams classic, The Glass Menagerie, opens Friday, Oct. 14, at Fountain Hills Theater.

The play by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, Tennessee Williams, is a drama of great tenderness, charm and beauty.

Amanda Wingfield is a faded, tragic remnant of Southern gentility who lives in poverty in a dingy St. Louis apartment with her son, Tom, and her daughter, Laura. She frequently reminds them of her idyllic youth and the scores of suitors who once pursued her.

Tom is driven nearly to distraction by his mother's nagging and seeks escape in alcohol and the world of the movies. Laura also lives in her illusions surrounded by her glass menagerie and old phonograph records. She is physically “'crippled” and this defect has left her excruciatingly shy, which is intensified even more by her mother's anxiety to see her married. But this world of illusion in the Wingfield family is as fragile as the horn on a glass unicorn and is about to come shattering down around them.

The Glass Menagerie is produced by Patricia Tonzi and directed by Ben Tyler. It stars Shari Watts as Amanda, Shannon Phelps as Laura, Quinn Johnson as Tom and Jack Lambert as Jim.

The production will play Oct 14 through 30. Performances are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Individual tickets are $30 for adults and $23 for youth 17 and younger. Seniors receive a $5 discount on all Thursday and Saturday performances. Group rates and student rush discounts are available as are Veteran and Active Duty discounts.

All performances are at Fountain Hills Theater on its Mainstage at 11445 N. Saguaro Blvd. Tickets are available through the Theater box office at 480- 837-9661 x3 or by visiting fhtaz.org. Box office hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.