The Glass Menagerie review: Harry Potter star is great in this modern reimagining

Banerjee’s vision was first realised at the Royal Exchange Theatre in 2022 (it was supposed to be 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic screwed that up), and it’s now at the Rose Theatre in Kingston for the first leg of its UK tour, before it heads to London’s Alexandra Palace and Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre.

This retelling of the classic play is performed under the bright, rotating lights of the ‘Paradise’ sign, however, if you’ve read any Williams before, you’ll know that this story is anything but blissful. The matriarch, Amanda Wingfield (played by Harry Potter’s Geraldine Somerville) is a Southern belle whose husband ran out on the family years previously. Amanda is frantic with keeping her son, Tom, away from alcohol, and finding her daughter Laura (played by Natalie Kimmerling) a ‘gentleman caller’.

Although Tom would rather spend his days watching movies and harbouring a sense of adventure that his own monotonous life doesn’t have, he works full-time in a factory with Jim O'Connor (played by Zacchaeus Kayode). When Tom invites Jim for supper, Laura is hysterical at the prospect of her first gentleman caller, and the audience learns it’s because Laura had romantic feelings for him in high school.

The acting is great, particularly Somerville’s Amanda and Hilton-Hille’s Tom. Kayode’s Jim is hugely likeable, and the audience feels care and sympathy for Kimmerling’s Laura. The characters portray feelings of loneliness, isolation, regret, love and duty, and while I related to the characters, I wasn’t completely moved by them; I felt claustrophobic when watching Somerville’s Amanda hound her children, but I wanted the tension to bubble so that when Amanda finally lost her temper at Laura’s romantic failure, it should have been both shocking but also a relief.

There are two microphones at either end of the stage to amplify certain sections, for example, when Amanda is working in her job trying to get lapsed readers to renew their magazine subscriptions, and when Amanda and Jim are flirting (more so Amanda than Jim) after the power has cut out.

Besides the microphones, the stage is fairly simple. The stage is a round plinth, with the ‘Paradise’ sign located in the middle, and Laura’s collection of glass animals are placed around the perimeter of the stage. Laura’s glass collection lends itself to the title of the play — The Glass Menagerie — and represents Laura’s fragility. However, when Laura is seemingly unbothered after Jim accidentally breaks a glass animal, the audience hope her anxieties are reduced.

After the interval, the audience returned to the addition of bright yellow flowers around the perimeter of the stage, which represent Amanda’s heyday (when she received countless gentleman callers, and received so many flowers she didn’t have enough vases for them all). During the second act, Tom lights the candles after the power has cut out. Although the final effect is beautiful, it was distracting when Hilton-Hille walked around and lit them all.

Banerjee’s The Glass Menagerie is penned as a ‘bold reimagining’ of the classic Williams play, which is why, perhaps, the costumes are fairly modern. In Banerjee’s interpretation, Tom wears trainers and Laura wears jeans, and she retreats from the world with headphones playing Whitney Houston’s One Moment. However, Amanda’s outfit looks relatively old fashioned. For continuity, it would’ve been great if a decade in fashion was selected and stuck to.

The ending is ambiguous; true to its exploration of memory, the play ends with Tom in his new life, having left the family home, being plagued by memories of Laura and feeling too guilty to fully enjoy his new surroundings. The audience aren’t sure what happens to Amanda and Laura, but this isn’t vital to the overall production. Sometimes, things are better left to our imagination!

Buy The Glass Menagerie tickets from £13 at London Theatre Direct

The Going Out team are lucky enough to experience some of the greatest theatre shows, and you can read our thoughts in our Standing at the Sky's Edge review, Witness for the Prosecution review, and For Black Boys review.

Who is starring in The Glass Menagerie UK tour?

Banerjee’s The Glass Menagerie sees Geraldine Somerville star as the matriarch, Amanda Wingfield, and you'll probably recognise Somerville for her role as Lily Potter in the Harry Potter movie series. Kasper Hilton-Hille takes on the role of Amanda's son, Tom Wingfield, and Natalie Kimmerling plays Laura Wingfield.

Zacchaeus Kayode takes on the role of gentleman caller Jim O'Connor, and Kayode has previously performed in productions such as Elegies For Angels, Punks And Raging Queens at the Edinburgh Fringe.

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Where and when can I see The Glass Menagerie?

At the moment, The Glass Menagerie is performing at the Rose Theatre in Kingston, before heading out on a UK tour. After the Rose Theatre, The Glass Menagerie will visit the Bristol Old Vic, Theatre Royal Bath, and Alexandra Palace.

Full list of The Glass Menagerie UK tour dates and venues:

• 17th April to 4th May — Kingston, Rose Theatre
• 7th May to 11th May — Bristol, Old Vic
• 13th May to 18th May — Bath, Theatre Royal
• 22nd May to 1st June — London, Alexandra Palace

How much do The Glass Menagerie UK tour tickets cost?

At the time of writing (Thursday 25th April), The Glass Menagerie tickets for Kingston's Rose Theatre and Bristol's Old Vic will set you back from £13, tickets for Bath's Theatre Royal cost from £12.50, and tickets for London's Alexandra Palace shows are slightly more expensive at £21.

Buy The Glass Menagerie tickets from £13 at London Theatre Direct

How to get The Glass Menagerie UK tour tickets

Tickets for all four UK tour shows (Kingston, Bristol, Bath and London) are on sale right now.

Buy The Glass Menagerie tickets from £13 at London Theatre Direct

For even more on theatre, be sure to read our best West End shows guide, and check out our Two Strangers review and The Hills of California review.