MONMOUTH — Theater at Monmouth’s summer repertory season continues with the opening of Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie” on Friday, July 20.

A symphony for four actors, “The Glass Menagerie” portrays a family’s struggle to maintain the precarious balance between a difficult past and an uncertain future, exploring the bonds of family, weight of memory and force of loss.

Williams’ bittersweet semi-autobiographical account of his coming of age in 1930s St. Louis is told from the perspective of his literary surrogate, Tom Wingfield, who serves as both narrator and protagonist.

His dilemma forms the central conflict of the play as he faces the agonizing choice between responsibility for his family and living his own life.

Williams fills the play with imagery: the glass menagerie, in its fragility and delicate beauty, is a symbol for Laura; the fire escape is most closely linked to Tom and to the theme of escape; even the theme of memory is important. For Amanda, memory is her anchor, her escape into a kinder, gentler time. For Tom, the older Tom who narrates the events of the play, memory is the thing that cannot be escaped.

Directing the show is Bill Van Horn, TAM’s associate artistic director and veteran company member. A fixture at TAM since 2001, he also frequently acts, directs, and writes for Pennsylvania’s acclaimed Walnut Street Theater.

“What elevates ‘The Glass Menagerie’ from mere confessional to great art is the probing honesty, deep understanding and loving tenderness with which Williams creates and caresses these four characters as they reach for happiness,” Van Horn said.

Written in 1943, “The Glass Menagerie” was Williams’ second play to be produced and the first of a series of successes, including Pulitzer Prize and New York Drama Critics’ Award winners “A Streetcar Named Desire” (1947) and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1955). Williams is acknowledged today as one of the most accomplished playwrights in the history of English-speaking theater.

Evening performances will be at 7:30 p.m. July 19 & 20; Aug. 1, 4, 8, 10 & 18; and at 7 p.m. Aug. 5, followed by a post-show discussion. Matinees will be at 1 p.m. July 21, 28 & 29 and Aug. 15. Tickets range from $10 to 28. For calendar and reservations, call 933-9999 or visit www.theateratmonmouth.org.