Not a simple retelling of Tennessee William’s “The Glass Menagerie” in dance theater form, this production of “Faith Healing,” directed by Jane Comfort, with choreography by Comfort and Company, presents a unique rendition of the story and lays bare its emotional meat.

This Oct 27^th show at the Joyce Soho, a black-box space with a white backwall/cyc, opens with an exhortation. In the circus tent style of an evangelical traveling preacher, Sean Donovan cheerfully barked a call and response exalting God, assisted by Heather Christian. They beckoned us to join in and celebrate the word of the Lord, and their unorthodox theology told us that God could be addressed through a special cell phone in their possession. As their attempts to dial the Almighty fell short, a slow cross-fade took us into the Wingfield home, where we become acquainted with Mark Dendy’s complex and studied portrayal of Amanda Wingfield, the family matriarch and mother of Tom and Laura.

Dendy’s sensitive interpretation of this iconic woman sits right up there with the most perplexing Amanda’s of our time. Having recently seen Roundabout’s version of the play, with Judith Ivey doing a fabulous job playing the most nagging Amanda I’ve ever seen, there was never any doubt why Tom had to leave that household. Whereas Dendy’s Amanda, a reprise of his debut as Amanda in the original “Faith Healing” at PS 122 in 1993, brought home the panic and worry of middle-aged woman who has few alternatives to the poorhouse and is also saddled with a delusional daughter who can only escape her dream world for brief moments at a time.

This production abounds with enormously gifted actor/dancers.  Tom, the shy, lonely, trapped and frustrated son, played by Donovan, proves that movement does make the story.  Looking a bit like a wide-smiled Jude Law, his measured approach to Tom’s untenable situation increases our concern that he extricate himself from his momma and her suffocation, although at the same time we want him to stay to save his sister. Laura is played with exceptional schizophrenia by Heather Christian, who makes Laura’s insufferable condition clear. When we see her tremble with delight and dejection, we also understand that she really will throw up if she has to answer the door to greet the gentleman caller.  The costumes by Liz Prince, set the tone, both as period exaggerations but with a sensitive attention to character detail, her bigger-than-life glass menagerie pieces effectively become the white elephant in the room; they loom ominously in the down stage left corner.

The Jim and Laura scene, re-imagined as a superman sequence, becomes a transporting dance in which the gentleman caller, played by Matthew Hardy, shines with gentle strength. This touching moment, highlighted by a mock flying sequence, was so inspiring that it took only a little imagination to see the couple actually soaring high above Gotham.  Our excitement was amplified by Jim’s loving indiscretion in kissing Laura, only to be crushed by the moment when he tells Laura that he’s engaged. Here again Hardy’s subtle talents telegraph the height of Jim’s passion and the physical distress he feels in revealing his engagement.  It is clear that Jim is not so sure about his betrothal when he is wrapped up in Laura’s innocence. In her disappointment, Christian’s Laura shrinks and crumbles so completely as to almost disappear, as she hobbles her way into her cocoon of tulle where she hibernates like a wounded animal for the remainder of the play.

In “Faith Healing,” Comfort and her cast have succeeded in marrying the physical nature of dance and the language of theater, producing one of the most moving theatrical experiences of the season.

Photos: Steven Schreiber