Broken Glass description
Arthur Miller's plays are legendary. This is Broken Glass, his rarely-performed masterpiece.
It's surprising how many classic plays resonate powerfully decades later. Arthur Miller's Broken Glass is one of them, packed with contemporary relevance. Directed by the Olivier nominee Jordan Fein (Fiddler on the Roof, Into the Woods), it's a gripping drama set in Brooklyn, New York City, during 1938, where the consequences of turning a blind eye to fascism's rise in Europe are made horribly clear. No wonder it feels so right for our troubled times.
In the play, Miller examines the way world events, hate, and fascism can take us over, affecting people's internal worlds, our relationships, and even their bodies. The plot stars Sylvia Gellburg, who finds the ever-escalating violence committed against Jewish people in Germany incredibly distressing. Ultimately, she becomes paralysed and can't walk, a mysterious condition that baffles her husband, who believes it's all in her head. While talking to Doctor Hyman about the matter, her marriage comes into focus, and the cracks in it begin to widen. Will the couple survive the fundamental damage hidden inside their relationship? Can they weather the horror of the events unfolding on the world stage, as Sylvia's defiance rises?
Expect a brave, passionate play about what can happen when we disconnect emotionally from the world's realities, with sets from Osanna Vize, costumes by Sussie Juhlin-Wallén, lighting by Adam Silverman, and sound from Tom Gibbons.
Broken Glass tickets send you into a powerful, timely examination of marriage, identity, and what happens when we let ourselves become indifferent.
Playing at Young Vic
Age restrictions
Ages 14+.
Important information
Contains themes of racism, antisemitism, references to Nazism, sexism, ablism, domestic violence/ abuse, sexual content (including descriptions of sexual assault) and mental health struggles.