Today's show is the American theatre classic The Glass Menagerie. There was a bit of a mishap walking from our meeting place at The Hub down to King's Theatre, but most of us slid in right as the house lights dimmed. The rest had to watch from the upper circle until the interval, when they could join the rest of us in the stalls.
We took to a surprisingly raucous uproar when someone in the audience whispered loudly "You know who she reminds me of? My mother." as Amanda Wingfield exited a very dramatic scene. Our entire surrounding section burst into giggles until someone whispered for us to "shut up"!
A lot of strong opinions were heard from everyone as we made our way
down to the front for the post-show talk with the director. You may know
John Tiffany from his slightly more famous production of the new
Harry Potter play in London. He talked to us about his decision to
abandon medicine to study theatre, and about some of the unusual use of
settings and props for this show. Laura, for example, enters and leaves
the stage through a sofa.
(Yes, a sofa.)
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The jury agreed that the show was pretty bleak. There were a lot of feelings about the aborted romance between Jim and Laura, which had probably frustrated audiences since the play premiered in 1944. The more things change, etc.
