The Glass Menagerie / our review

fell In LOVE

Jan 31st, 2017

Teia Fregona

Teia Fregona

Essential Viewing

"To begin with, I turn back time. I reverse it to that quaint period, the thirties, when the huge middle class of America was matriculating in a school for the blind. Their eyes had failed them or they had failed their eyes, and so they were having their fingers pressed forcibly down on the fiery Braille alphabet of a dissolving economy."

Upon hearing these words uttered during the opening monologue of Olivier and Tony Award winner John Tiffany's London production of The Glass Menagerie, I knew there would be magic afoot. Not the smoke-and-mirrors kind, last seen in Tiffany’s West End triumph Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, but the kind of enchantment that is conjured when the poetry of a great playwright meets pitch-perfect performances and nuanced staging.

I'd never before been acquainted with Tennessee Williams’ work, but quickly fell in love with his wistful lyricism and mastery of metaphor. In that same sweeping monologue, narrator Tom Wingfield introduces the onstage proceedings as a memory play, a sentimental flight from reality embellished with an exquisite, dreamlike prose. Indeed, Williams infused the play with memories of his own, embedded in the symbolism of the characters and their struggles with an unkind era. While there certainly is an ethereal quality to the play's makeup, the Wingfield family members and their relationships are entirely relatable.

Tom represents the playwright in his youth, a restless creative doomed to the drudgery of factory work in order to support his family. His mother Amanda is an aging, histrionic Southern rose drooping under the weight of abandonment by the unseen Mr. Wingfield and the unmet expectations she places on her children. Longing for independence and constantly at loggerheads with his mother, Tom (and his sister Laura) falls short in every way. Painfully shy and burdened with a poor constitution and a limp, Laura emulates the fragile yet unique glass animal figurines in the glass menagerie she obsesses over. The frail young woman is doomed to a lonely spinster's life and this is untenable in her mother and society's eyes. But Laura sheds her milquetoast skin for a fleeting moment when Tom's friend Jim O'Connor arrives for dinner. His presence heralds a seismic shift in the stale household, breathing the fresh air of an optimistic perspective through its growing cracks...

A veritable classic driven by its vivid characterizations and an overwhelmingly beautiful dialogue, the play needs little in the way of flashy gimmicks to make an impression and utilizes a simple, static set design, allowing for adroit acting to flourish. An inspired choice of an ensemble cast does the utmost justice to Williams' genius. Broadway stalwart Cherry Jones is a revelation as the beleaguered matriarch, while British actress Kate O'Flynn's performance as Laura is tragic yet peppered with light touches of humour. I never once doubted what was unfolding before my eyes.

A whirlwind debut that catapulted its author from obscurity into the realm of the greats, the original production premiered in 1944. Having experienced it for myself some seven decades later, I can attest to its still shining brilliance. The Glass Menagerie is a West End must-see that does ample justice to its literary legacy. Heart-rending, thought-provoking and haunting, this superlative production is essential viewing.

Verdict: 5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed by Teia Fregona

Tuesday 31st January 2017
Duke Of York's Theatre, London
Find me on Twitter: @_londontheatre_

View our show pages for more information about The Glass Menagerie, Duke of Yorks Theatre.

The Glass Menagerie, Duke of Yorks Theatre, London

The Glass Menagerie

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Duke of Yorks Theatre: Closed Apr 27, 2017

After becoming a highly acclaimed production across the pond on Broadway, this Tony-winning revival of Tennessee Williams's classic play, The Glass Menagerie comes to London this Winter. Produced by the...more info

Book TicketsBook tickets for The Glass Menagerie, Duke of Yorks Theatre, London

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