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theatreguys 
Monica and Robin.
Broken Glass.
Love Miller’s plays but didn’t know this one. He never fails and everything about it was was absolutely outstanding.
Those that didn’t go missed a treat. Maybe some might find it difficult?
The acting was something else, just wonder how ‘rung out’ they are after such performances.
Always super evenings out but this was something else.
Thank you so much Fredo and Mike for making this decision for us.
Well done Bill for getting us home nice and early!
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Broken Glass
Powerful. A play for today!
Loved the goldfish.
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BROKEN GLASS
We really enjoyed Broken Glass last night. I’d never seen it before. It was a very powerful production. Beautiful to hear such wonderful dialogue.
Jane
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BROKEN GLASS
I’d forgotten just how powerful this play is. In fact, I’d almost dismissed it as second-tier Miller (sorry, Fredo, I read your Setting the Scene, and I know you’re a fan). This production proved me wrong, as it demonstrated again that he’s an impeccable dramatist, revealing key points at crucial moments. The narrative sweeps up complex themes like so many shards of broken glass: the identity-denyiing of Jews trying to assimilate in a hostile goyim society and how this self-hatred is destructive to entire families, as well as the lack of political awareness that leads to dangerous complacency, The focus is on Harry and his wife Sylvia, who apparently suffers from a psychosomatic complaint. In explosive performances, Eli Gelb and Pearl Chanda expose the tensions in their relationship, exacerbated by the well-meaning (though perhaps slightly predatory) doctor Harry (Alex Waldman). As the play reached its climax, the tension in the theatre rose to almost unbearable levels. Kudos to all the cast, but especially Gelb, Chanda and Waldman, and also to director Jordan Fein and to the Young Vic, for restoring this play to its rightful place in the Miller canon.
Fraser
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Broken Glass
Ah, yes. America – “a faraway country…….people of whom we know nothing…….” Sorry – but misapplying a semi-remembered quotation was irresistible. Whatever the 3,000 miles between the USA and Europe felt like in 1938, the distance is certainly no shorter today. Miller’s dark play, now more than 30 years old, in all its strangeness seems quite contemporary.
As usual, the playwright lays on the symbolism pretty heavily and the smart noirish production did little to alleviate it. Broken marriage, broken trust, broken faith? I probably spent too much time watching the goldfish circling in its bowl. It could not escape my gaze. The characters too were watching each other, either sitting quietly on stage or peering through the glass wall as the action unfolded and as the audience too was captured in bright light.
Despite the plentiful piles of newspapers, read and unread, incomprehension prevails. The incredibility and horror of Kristallnacht had not been absorbed by anyone other than Sylvia, who is literally paralysed by it. Her helplessness was well conveyed by Pearl Chandra. Searching for a more mundane explanation of her sudden immobility, Alex Waldman as the spooky Dr Hyman (whose speciality is clearly unorthodoxy) does find one in the end. Poor Philip – what a stonking passionate performance by Eli Gelb! – is torn apart – more than paralysed – by his failure as a husband, his deceit as a property dealer and his conflicted Jewish identity. (I suppressed the thought that he’s a sort of Othello, but we were indeed witnessing a tragedy). The ancillary roles were convincingly handled, even though they needed rounding out further.
Garth
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Broken Glass
WOW! I was totally absorbed from the first minute to the last.
I thought it was an amazing production which was so excellently cast with an incredibly interesting storyline.
Thank you both for the opportunity to see it.
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Broken Glass
I was totally absorbed from the beginning of this production. Knowing something of the plot from previous productions, I felt it took its time in linking Sylvia’s paralysis to the reports of Jewish persecution in Germany. But there are many themes to the play. It is nearly as focussed on sexual problems and domestic intimacy as it is on anti- Semitism. Eli Gelb is superb as Phillip, full of anxiety and self-loathing, never forgetting his Jewishness yet in some ways in denial of it. It is a little difficult to believe that he is the only Jewish man in his realtor firm, or that his son had achieved a miracle for having been selected for the army. This is New York, not New Haven. The erotic feelings between Harry and Sylvia toe a thin line between therapy and sexual desire; It was interesting to hear of Harriet’s bewilderment that Sylvia should be so concerned about events 3000 miles away. Even in 2026 I have heard it said that Americans still don’t give a fig for what’s happening in Europe, and that many don’t even have a passport. There are several brief flashes that remind one of today; the thought that Sylvia might have had sex without remembering it makes one think of Gisele Pelicot, and the brusque behaviour of Stanton Case might well have been experienced in posh golf clubs in the UK until perhaps recently. Juliet Cowan was excellent as Harriet as was the always admirable Nancy Carroll as the sparky Margaret. But the heavy burden of the play lies on the shoulders of Alex Waldmann , Pearl Chanda. and especially Eli Gelb, whose final breakdown and heart attack was searing to watch. Is it a little improbable that Sylvia should regain her mobility upon Philip’s death?
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Broken Glass
Really enjoyed the production last night, though it was exhausting. Never cease to be amazed by acting talents. Sheena
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Evening all afternoon
I thought this was one of the best plays I have seen and the acting was fantastic from both actors. I was gripped from the start. Sorry to see it was not a full house, unusual for the Donmar.
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Evening All Afternoon
A very sensitive play about grief and love.Two women from different backgrounds and generations try to overcome the ghosts of their past.They are both haunted by the memories of their late mothers.They are thrown together by the marriage of the younger’s father to the older woman.There was both humour and sadness in their endeavours to come to terms with with each other.
Tremendous acting by Anastasia Hille and Erin Kellyman.
I was surprised to see empty seats in the theatre for such an engrossing performance.
Thank you for a night to remember.
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Evening All Afternoon
What a wonderful evening of theatre! From the moment Anastasia Hille began speaking in her role as the thoroughly beige, English, Jennifer, I was captivated. Those of us of a certain age in the audience could immediately relate to some of the issues and memory lapses she described. Her body language was fantastic; she exhibited that sort of tortured nervousness that can be displayed by some people, women particularly maybe, who lack social confidence and have low self-esteem. As the play went on, however, we discover there is considerable strength of character and a wealth of kindness below this surface.
The play offered the younger generation an opportunity to self-identify also, with the character of the apparently brash American step-daughter, Delilah, played by Erin Kellyman. As the play develops we need to adjust our views of the two characters and their relationship and bear in mind the central magic message that things are not always as they appear, or indeed that what appears may not be there at all.
All this is dealt with through humour and intense emotion. The central concern of the play, the relationship between child and mother, is the only relationship one can be sure that most of the audience will have experienced. This is one of the many reasons why I feel sure anyone who sees this play will enjoy it. Added to some heavy stuff were many laughs, particularly in the early part, and a series of running jokes, many linguistic, about the differences between the English and Americans. Thank you Fredo and Mike (and of course John and Maggie) for providing me with the opportunity to experience this excellent night out.
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EVENING ALL AFTERNOON
That was one of the best things I’ve seen in years. Up there with The Lehman Brothers. Really envy you going to see it again. The writing, direction, staging and of course the incredible acting were all superb. Lorna and I were talking about it all the way home, and it was the first thing I thought about this morning. Fantastic, I wouldn’t give it 5 stars I’d give it 10!!!
Pauline
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Evening All Afternoon
Two women with many differences but also many similarities. Two very different personalities but can they find common ground despite their differences as the one person they both love is one of the common threads that is weaved throughout the play?
We found it engrossing as soon as Jennifer opened the play and quickly the action turned towards Delilah and her story. The set design and good use of lighting added to the performance.
Thanks Fredo and Mike for another great evening at the Donmar.
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Arcadia
A thought provoking and entertaining play from one of Tom Stoppard’s most well received comedy dramas.
Good use of lighting and the stage set made it more intimate for the audience.
Good acting with Bernard Nightingale giving an exceptional performance.
Many thanks Fredo and Mike.
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Arcadia
Monica and Robin
Another enthralling play to be seen and a shame Stoppard not here to see how he captured the audience with his cleverness.
Worked exceptionally well in the round with all the cast (not knowing any of them) playing their parts extremely well.
Thank you Mike and Fredo for another thoroughly enjoyable evening.
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Arcadia
I found both the play and the acting superb. It is always good to hear an audience relax into laughter early on and this play has many entertaining moments. Yes, there is much heavier stuff but I enjoy the academic duelling of Hannah and Bernard and the wonderful, youthful vivacity of Thomasina. The friend I viewed this with suggested that Thomasina is so named because she carries Tom Stoppard’s genius and insatiable curiosity for all things. What an interesting play this is! It carries so much but in the end for me it is about time and relationships. The acting of Isis Hainsworth (Thomasina) was brilliant and I also felt Prasanna Puwanarajah (Bernard) made considerable impact in what can be a tricky part while Seamus Dillane as Septimus was also thoroughly convincing.
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Arcadia
What a great afternoon at the Old Vic. I thought the production was excellent and worked well in the round. The cast, mostly unknown to me, was so good, especially Isis Hainsworth as Thomasina. Stoppard has such a clever way with words and we are drawn into Arcadia with humour from the beginning. I’m certainly no mathematician nor a classics scholar but that really didn’t matter. I loved it. Thanks, as always, to Fredo and Mike.
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Arcadia
Slght division in our household. Steve the mathematician and computer expert absolutely loved this play. I thought it was extremely clever and thoughtful and I liked the comparisons made by Thomasina between nature and science. There was plenty of humour – very necessary. The cast were top notch and the idea of two different timelines happening at once was different.
A good tribute to Tom Stoppard’s to stage it in London now we agreed.
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Arcadia
Any comments I might have made have been covered, with much more eloquence, by the previous contributors. I had hopes that my A level studies in pure and applied maths might have been beneficial but, alas, not that much. Fortunately the essence of the play stands on its own but, even more fortunately, there was someone for whom the science did provide a catalyst. Reading about the play on Wiki, there is a section which states that the surgeon Michael Baum was so inspired by the play that his research into chemotherapy for breast cancer led to the the use of tamoxifen with a significant reduction in mortality rates. Unintended but hugely beneficial consequences of Stoppard’s imagination, thankfully.
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ARCADIA
It was a privilege to see Arcadia at The Old Vic yesterday. Thanks for the opportunity. The whole thing was top-notch. It was such a clever play (done cleverly) and certainly, in parts, too clever for me. What was so appealing was the inclusion of so much humour. The auditorium was full which made for a lively and entertaining atmosphere.
Michael
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