The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie a play that I have read many times but never seen a production of until recently at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London. I have read this play multiple times and discussed it in a few of my classes, it was interesting to finally see it performed on stage. I have watch parts of a performance on YouTube but this show at the Duke of York’s Theatre was a very interesting performance. This play is a memory play, and they used this to their advantage by having the narrator who is the son in the play be a separate person who watched and reacted to all of the events happening on stage. I idea that he is actively reliving these moments with the other actors adds a new feeling to the show. It is almost a constant reminder that it is a memory but at times I felt more interested in him while I should have been paying attention to the other action on stage. However having him there was very interesting and having things that are located off stage was very helpful to the play. For the most part the acting was good, with famous actor Amy Adams. There was one part in the play that I feel felt off and it was when the unicorn’s horn was broken off. It felt clunky and off, while reading the play it felt like that was one of the biggest moments of the plays. I was hoping for more out of this moment, I don’t know exactly what I was expecting but it felt like it was not very important that it broke to the actors. Other than that I performance was very nice. I took notice to the lighting like I do for every show that I have seen in London. Like many of the shows here they rely on much less light than what I am used to, and it can sometimes work very well. In this performed I felt like I was wanting more out of the lighting design. I enjoyed the use of fixtures on the stage that fit into the world of the scenic design. Because it was a memory play I was hopping for more in the lighting diversity leaning more into spectacle. It was still very interesting lighting design and had a few moments that I really enjoyed. One specific moment that I really enjoyed was when the sister was looking into the mirror right after her mother left. When the mother left the narrator shifted the mirror so that the light that was hitting the mirror and bounced off illuminated the sister making her glow beautifully. This was a very powerful effect that I greatly enjoyed and really enhanced the moment. There was projections in this performance as well with the goal to add more to the performance with shifting colors or images but it was sometimes hard to see from my seat and from what I did see I realized that missing it would not effect the visual of the play. It was a interesting performance of the play and I am happy to be adding it to my catalog of plays that I have seen here in London.