Review: The Glass Menagerie, at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester

Since September, the Royal Exchange has been hosting a Tennessee Williams classic, ending just last night. And a cheap ticket was good enough reason for me to go along and see something different to what I would normally. 

The Glass Menagerie was the play that brought Williams to stardom, premiering in 1944; this family drama is set in a 1930s St Louis apartment, following the Wingfield family who's living situation is as tense as if their floor was covered in broken glass shards. 

A memory play said to have strong autobiographical elements, we follow son Tom look back to his time with his histrionic mother, and his sister. 

Matriarch Amanda is a Southern Belle, who's yearning for her children to have the same comforts she once had, especially for her daughter to be married and taken care of. Caring, but definitely over attentive. 

Son Tom wants more than the provincial life he has working in a factory, and dreams of leaving just like his father. 

Daughter Laura is just happy playing her father's records and staying in her menagerie of glass figurines. 

And no surprise, tensions are high. 

Novel of the Royal Exchange (which I haven't visited since Bloody Elle... whoops), what strikes you first is the set. 

The round is decorated as if it were a table decorated for a wedding, all that's needed are a few speakers, glass figurines almost invisible to the naked eye, and (in the 2nd half) vases of flowers turning the outside a sea of yellow. 

And then there is the massive neon rotating "PARADISE" sign, for the name of the dance hall outside the Wingfield apartment. 

Rotating faster or slower depending on the pace of the play, it might as well have said "IRONY", as it is a huge reminder of what can never the achieved, or that it's a fake paradise, all for show. 

It almost felt like another character in the show! 

And speaking of the characters, this is 4 (not including the neon) piece is led by Geraldine Somerville as Amanda. Now for those of you who may not know the name immediately, people of my generation would hopefully recognise her as Lily in the Harry Potter films. 

I never thought my obsessions for theatre and the Marauder's Era would collide like this but here we go. 

We never get to see in Harry Potter how good of an actress Somerville is, and so it's nice to see her in a role where she can show off what she can do. Similar to Rose's arc in Gypsy, you see this desperate powerhouse woman try and take control, being magnetic in every shade she played. 
What's even more interesting is that she played Laura in the Royal Exchange's 1989 production - talk about a full circle moment!

And speaking of Laura, Rhiannon Clements was just as magnetic, particularly when she gets to shine in one giant scene in the 2nd act, involving a hypnotic and sweet dance to Whitney Housten's One Moment in Time. 

I'm not sure if Tennessee Williams gets HYPED in the room, but definitely it being the last night of a very celebrated production, there was some electricity from the audience. 

I am definitely glad I saw this. The Glass Menagerie as a play has had an excellent year, with the West End production starring Amy Adams. And it is a big fat tick off my list.