Similarities: Autobiographical, Themes, Characters
The similarities between the two plays is that they are both to a large extent autobiographical and discuss familial strife, emphasizing dysfunctional family relationships. There are parallels between Mary and Laura because in plays the main conflict revolves around Mary's addiction and Laura's inability to overcome her shyness and anxiety respectively. Both families also often bring up the past and encounter communication barriers. A common theme between both plays is also the idea of escape and a disjunction between reality and fantasy. This theme of fantasy or a lack of reality can also be interpreted through ghost motifs because they are haunted by the past and unfulfilled dreams.
Differences: Memory Play vs Cyclical Plot, Family relationship, Use of lighting
What makes GM different from LDJN is that GM is a memory play and it often distorts events in the play by over-emphasizing certain parts through lighting, details, and adding sentimentality with the use of music. Tom is the self-aware narrator who explicitly directs the audience through the components of the play and states that the play is "truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion". On the other hand, LDJN has a cyclical plot where the past is brought up and as the play progresses into the night, the characters delve further into the past which shows how disconnected they are from reality. The progression of the play into the night also reifies the Tyrone family's "descent into darkness", thus the presence or the lack of sunlight shows a cyclical nature of bright hope turning into darkness and despair. Lighting in LDJN is also manipulated through turning off and switching on the chandelier lights. When the lights are turned on, there is usually more clarity and the Tyrones are able to better communicate with each other. In GM, lighting is mostly focused on Laura, giving her a saintly and non-human presence. The lighting also focuses on Laura because she can be seen as the emotional force in the play because her presence is the center of the Wingfield family.
I agree with your analysis of the functions of lights in both plays. Similarly to LDJN, lighting in GM can also be used to represent the loss of hope. When Tom fails to pay the electricity bills and the house is plunged in darkness, Tom conveys that Laura and Amanda are hopeless with him as a source of income. At the end of the play, when Laura blows out the candles after Jim and Tom leave, it is as if she has lost hope in ever marrying.
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