Find out what is being said about Jordan Fein’s revival of Arthur Miller’s play, playing at the theatre until the 18th April.
The Guardian: **** “The interweaving of the personal, political, social and sexual seems inchoate, but there is so much emotive power in Jordan Fein’s production, such extraordinary performances by Gelb and Chanda, and so many chilling parallels to current political indifference to the horrors around the world, that the play’s lack of internal coherence becomes irrelevant.”
The Stage: *** “Powerful performances hold together this discomforting revival of Arthur Miller’s tricky drama of identity, antisemitism and sexual frustration.”
WhatsOnStage: **** “Fein’s thoughtful direction holds and tightens the corkscrewing emotions and thoughts of the play in a production that is always gripping and often devastating. It’s a messy play, but an important one, compelling in the richness of its concerns.”
A Young(ish) Perspective: **** “The Young Vic’s revival of Broken Glass is honest and brutal. Running at 2 hours with no interval, this play explores what it means to be Jewish in America during the rise of the Nazis in Germany.”
All That Dazzles: *** “That is not to say there is anything wrong with this production whatsoever. It is absolutely fine, perhaps fittingly given the director’s surname. There is nothing wrong with fine, but it does stop just shy of becoming as thrilling and compelling as it promises to be.”
The Arts Desk: *** “Miller’s play offers no easy redemption, and no answers to the complex psychology of diaspora and identity. He is clear-eyed about the problems of marriage and of the difficulties of women finding satisfaction, and agency, in 1930s society. Fein’s often intense production, designed by Rosanna Vize, has a puce-red carpeted thrust stage which is a bit too long for the play, much of which is close up and intimate.”
Theatre Vibe: “This is not one of Miller’s best plays but there are still flashes of his great writing in the wit. The ending is sad but not predictable.”
Lou Reviews: *** 1/2 “There are moments to admire in this production, but it doesn’t quite connect with its themes of antisemitism, overwork, sexuality, and political inertia.”
The Reviews Hub: **** “A new production of any Arthur Miller play is always a cause for great celebration, and this version of Broken Glass is no exception. At two hours straight with no interval, this tense, thought-provoking, and at times uncomfortable production, confronts and challenges personal views, our connection to global events and responsibility to others.”
Jonathan Baz Reviews: * ” Fein has a lot to answer for too. A detail of his set, he has the Gellburgs’ marital bed strewn with newspapers. If the newspapers had been facsimiles of 1930s newsprint that would have been fair enough. But with the subtlety of a brick however, Fein has selected real recent British publications, all with blazing headlines that have been chosen to demonise the right-wing of Britain’s contemporary political spectrum, Fein clearly not realising that this country’s current antisemitic hatred is largely being stirred up by the Islamist-sympathising Left. Fein’s casting choices are equally mismanaged, Eli Gelb and Pearl Chanda as the Gellburg couple appearing far too young to have raised a 20 year-old.”
Plays To see.com: **** “Written in 1994, Broken Glass belongs to Miller’s later period, when his plays often became more discursive and reflective. Performed here without interval and running close to two hours, the text sometimes feels dense, its psychological explanations circling familiar ground. A little trimming might have sharpened its dramatic arc.”
British Theatre Guide: “Broken Glass is a polemical play of verbal duelling. The main characters are Phillip, Sylvia and Hyman, the argument rests with them, the oppressed, the hysterical and the voice of reason: the others are padding. Luxury casting having Nancy Carroll as Margaret Hyman with the raucous laugh; Nigel Whitmey is a stylish Stanton Case; and Juliet Cowan as Sylvia’s sister Harriet reminds me of New York character actress Thelma Ritter for whom no part was too small.”
North West End: *** “At two hours, with no interval, Miller’s intense and wordy script is not for lightweights. It’s exhausting, intense, and aside from a few lulls, strangely compelling.”
London Theatre.co.uk: *** “director Jordan Fein’s combative production of this claustrophobic, sexually charged piece doesn’t make a case for it as an equal to Miller’s earlier masterpieces – it’s too meandering and repetitive – but it has got several striking qualities with present-day resonance.”
To book tickets visit: https://www.youngvic.org/whats-on/broken-glass