Broken Glass

The Tricycle Theatre

19th November 2010


Broken glass is a play about repression. On the surface we are introduced to world where the events of Kristallnacht are playing the protagonist and indeed the catalyst to the dramatic events that affect the lives of all the characters. The frightening destruction of Jewish properties and Synagogues by the Nazi’s, overshadowing and consuming the play. Yet, although it is indeed the events of the Kristallnacht which appear to render Sylvia Gellburg hysterically paralysed (as we learn in the opening of the play), it certainly becomes clear that the real cause of her affliction is masked by these anti-Semitic events. In fact, we discover that it is her husband Philip, his self-repression, and their sexually repressed relationship that resonates so much with Sylvia in the events of the Kristallnacht that she loses the use of her legs. To Sylvia, Philip Gellburg represents a racial fear and hatred, much closer to home than the 3000 mile away events in Germany. Uncomfortable in his own skin, uncomfortable being Jewish, looking Jewish, even having a Jewish name – resolute in his need to be defined by something other than being Jewish, this self-denial of his identity has manifested itself as one who is emotionally and sexually repressed. Not only does Sylvia see the anti-Semitic events of Kristallnacht reflected in her husband’s self-hatred, but in some way, their sexless marriage, which, in Iqbal Khan’s production, has left her feeling humiliated. So in fact – what initially appears as a play based around a historical political event and its effect becomes one which places the magnifying glass firmly on the destructive nature of the personal internal on the external.

There is something of the epic in this production, directed by Khan with an almost Shakespearean quality, Miller’s text has been handled with poetic reverence. This in itself adding to the uneasy atmosphere set up by the solo cello music which open’s each scene, the stark set which draws us to the characters and the terrifying context of anti-Semitism in which the play is set. Khan’s direction absolutely sets up the story of Philip and Sylvia Gellburg as one where the fractures appearing in the relationship between the couple can clearly be introduced to the audience with poignancy and precision, slowly building up to create an explosion of epic proportions like a pane of glass finally shattering in the ending scenes of the play. Antony Sher has completely immersed himself into the role of Philip, and his presentation of a man who is holding in so much internal angst and emotion is truly compelling, and, with so much bubbling beneath the surface throughout the play, Philip’s explosive outburst in the penultimate scene is thrilling to watch and absolutely believable. Likewise Lucy Cohu is brilliant as Sylvia, a woman whose life has slowly eroded away before her, she plays the character with a gentle fragility which has a dangerous edge, always threatening to finally tip her into hysteria, or even madness. Everything simmers below the surface in this production, sexual tensions and unspoken feelings so beautifully pinioned just underneath the action for the audience to really appreciate the feeling of repression so rife within the play. For my part it was wonderful to watch a truly engaging and absorbing theatre that really reflected on the terrifyingly destructive nature of self-loathing, and if nothing else has taught me never to supress a tear or a word without remembering the repercussions of the inability to express one’s feelings.

(p.s I should not like to forget the wonderful performances of Madeleine Potter, Nigel Lindsay, Emily Bruni and Brian Protheroe, a truly captivating and faultless cast, who are all easily worthy of another 600 words)