Tennessee Williams' classic play The Glass Menagerie returns to London for a limited season in 2017. This brand new production transfers from a Tony-nominated run on Broadway, as well as a European premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival 2016.
Directed by John Tiffany, it features movement by Steven Hoggett, design by Bob Crowley, lighting by Natasha Katz. sound design by Paul Arditti and original music by composer Nico Muhly.
Tony Award-winning Broadway icon Cherry Jones stars as former Southern Belle Amanda Wingfield, along with Michael Esper as Tom, Kate O’Flynn as Laura and Brian J. Smith as 'Gentleman Caller'.
Described as a four-character memory play it was originally performed in Chicago in 1944 and went on to catapult Williams into the limelight as one of America's most highly respected dramatists. A reworking of one of Williams' earlier short stories, 'The Gentleman Caller', the play is distinctly autobiographical and features characters based on Williams' own family including his fragile sister Rose.
The original production was met with mixed reviews, but transferred to Broadway opening at the Playhouse Theatre in March 1945, moving to the Royale Theatre until August 1946. It was championed by Chicago critics and went on to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award in 1945. The first of Williams' successful plays The Glass Menagerie proved to be a breakthrough for the writer who would later go on to pen classics such as Sweet Bird of Youth, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Streetcar Named Desire.
The London premiere of The Glass Menagerie took place at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in July 1948 in a production directed by John Gielgud and starring Helen Hayes as Amanda Wingfield. The play has since been seen in productions around the UK including Bristol, Bath and Edinburgh and has enjoyed numerous high profile revivals at the Donmar Warehouse in 1995 starring Zoe Wanamaker and the Young Vic in 2010 starring Deborah Findlay.
On Broadway the play has had five major revivals, with actresses such as Jessica Tandy, Julie Harris, Jessica Lange, Harriet Harris and Cherry Jones having all portrayed Amanda Wingfield.
This brand new production The Glass Menagerie opened on Broadway in September 2013 at the Booth Theatre and featured Cherry Jones as Amanda Wingfield, Zachary Quinto as Tom, Celia Keenan-Bolger as Laura and Brian J. Smith as Jim. It was nominated for seven 2014 Tony Award nominations, including Best Revival of a Play and Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for Cherry Jones.
The American Repertory Theatre's production was recently seen at the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2016, once again directed by John Tiffany featuring movement by Steven Hoggett, hot off the back of their collaboration on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in the West End. Cherry Jones reprised her Tony-nominated role as matriarch Amanda Wingfield opposite Lazarus star Michael Esper, Kate O'Flynn and Seth Numrich.
Don't miss this exciting West End production.
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