The Glass Menagerie – Alexandra Palace Theatre, London

Writer: Tennessee Williams

Director: Atri Banerjee

There’s a temptation when staging classic plays to reinvent the wheel, to throw out all received wisdom in order to engage with the text from a new perspective. This temptation can almost seem a necessity, that there’s little point in revisiting old stories without trying to introduce radical novelty, but in doing so a production can easily lose sight of everything that made the original piece work – a fate that is well demonstrated by this production of Tennessee William’s classic play.

Set in the cavernous Alexandra Palace Theatre, the first striking production decision becomes immediately apparent – foregoing the claustrophobic domestic setting which the text seems made for we are instead presented with a massive empty stage, dotted with small glass animals and dominated by a massive rotating neon sign. No walls, no rooms, practically no personal effects to flesh out the characters’ lives – everything here is minimalist and abstract, with actors often striking unusual poses as they drift off in contemplation of the large sign, never to any great effect beyond a feeling of mild alienation.

This feels deliberate but it’s an effect that’s entirely at odds with the story being told. The main tension for most of the play comes from how the Wingfield family tell us in most scenes how difficult they find living constantly on top of one another in their small apartment, a tension naturally lost when they do so while wandering around a giant empty black stage (often at a speed difficult inside an apartment).

The one saving grace for the staging is that it allows for moments of sudden bombastic spectacle, when every stage light bursts to life and the speakers blare (perhaps a little too loudly), such as when Laura Wingfield (Natalie Kimmerling) and her gentleman caller Jim O’Connor (Zacchaeus Kayode) share a dance near the end of the play. At moments like this, the pared-back approach works, but it’s a rare exception.

Meanwhile, although each actor gives a strong performance, how they play their arcs often feels at odds with one another. Kasper Hilton-Hille as Tom Wingfield often feels like he is in his own sitcom, expertly offering us a charming and relatable protagonist that works well in tandem with Geraldine Somerville as Amanda Wingfield, but neither of them seems to be occupying the same world as Kimmerling who always seems a few short minutes away from a panic attack. The actors are doing their jobs, and doing them well, but there’s the lack of a guiding hand linking their journeys together, leaving their performances feeling separate rather than cohesive.

Ultimately, due to some striking creative choices, this show shines in its spectacle but loses sight of the narrative substance of the story it set out to tell.

Runs until 1 June 2024