REVIEW: Broken Glass

This powerful drama, set in 1930s America as the horrors in Germany begin to unfold, is the story of a Jewish couple. Philip Gellburg, wonderfully played by Eli Gelb, is desperate to assimilate and shed his “Jewishness”, while his wife, Sylvia, equally well portrayed by Pearl Chanda, is suffering from a form of paralysis caused, it would seem, by psychological rather than physical reasons. Enter her physician, Dr Hyman (Alex Waldmann), whose relationship with Sylvia becomes complex as he attempts to cure what he feels sure are deep-rooted problems.

As with all Arthur Miller plays, Broken Glass has a multi-layered, thought-provoking, storyline. Sylvia is haunted by the stories coming from Europe, and is shocked that hers seems to be a lone voice of outrage. Her husband is only concerned with conforming to the American dream and succeeding at work, while her doctor, who has lived in Germany, is focussed on curing her.

And just as life is shattering in Germany, so is the couple’s marriage. It, too, is not as perfect as it has seemed on the surface.

Directed by Jordan Fein (Fiddler on the Roof, Regents Park Theatre) this is one of Miller’s lesser-performed works, but nonetheless makes for a spell-binding play. It is two hours long, running straight through without an interval and with a cast of five actors.

Trigger alert. During the performance, historic and present day newspapers are moved around the set. The headlines appear to vary in each performance, and some Jewish theatregoers notice a Gaza genocide headline very visible on the set, and they found any correlation between the Nazi Holocaust and current events in the Middle East to be inappropriate and distasteful.

Broken Glass is at the Young Vic until 18 April. youngvic.org