The Glass Menagerie starring Cherry Jones - Edinburgh

Thanks due to the Forum today as went in and asked about switching my tickets F1 and F2.....for 25th March as now classified as "slightly restricted" and weren't when I bought them! Lady at the box office "it tells you clearly on the ticket they are restricted view" Me "No it doesn't...look for yourself.I bought them very early as I am a real fan" Lady at the box office "did you get an email saying we'd change them" Me "no, but I think it only fair as they were sold as not restricted" (I am very honest!) Lady at box office "Ok, let's swap them". I think she recognised the slight Rottweiler in me and gave up. She swapped for Row A 3 and 4, Quite happy as like to be near the front so may miss reflections but see expressions well! Many thanks everyone who gave info re this!

It now says slight restricted view but didn't when I bought the tickets!I have no trouble with paying less for a bad view when it is pointed out and would not have complained if that had been the case.

I saw it on Saturday evening. Enjoyed the performances, the production was quite atmospheric in spite of some pretentious elements like the shark and the scene changes. John Tiffany uses similar effects to the Harry Potter play for the scene changes but it doesn't suit this play at all and looks weird, the slow and strange movements of the actors made them look as if they were in a different play, I thought they were going to wave their robes and bring out their magic wands.

Overall enjoyable but I prefer the Jessica Lange production a few years back.

It has been instructive seeing Hedda Gabler, Virginia Woolf and now The Glass Menagerie more or less in a row. Despite the 70 year time lapse between the first, Hedda, and the last, VW, the problem for the leading ladies is pretty much the same. They are all strong but bitterly disappointed women because they have chosen the wrong men as husbands; in their eyes they have married beneath them. And in each case it has been fatal because there has been no social stimulus for any of them to acquire the skills to support themselves. They are dependent on who they marry.

Amanda Wingfield is slightly different in that her husband has already abandoned her - but his presence lives on, for her, in her son Tom, in whom she sees the same weaknesses; lack of ambition, a tendency to drink. Of course her fears become a self-fulfilling prophecy because who could stand to stay with this monstrous women who sucks the air out of a room. Tom, as a man, can simply go; Laura, his sister, cannot, and not just because she is such a frail creature.

I cannot imagine a better, more intensely accurate depiction of Amanda than that of Cherry Jones. She was born to play this part; larger than life, as Amanda must be, dominating the stage as she dominates her family. An utterly masterful performance.

Kate O'Flynn is also wonderful, especially in the gentleman caller scene where we see the real Laura emerge from her cocoon just for a moment, revealing a set of social graces that succeeds in disarming her apparent beau. Laura is not hopeless, not at all, which makes her situation so much sadder. O'Flynn brings all this out beautifully. That beau, Jim, is wonderfully played by Brian J. Smith - the whole scene, the heart of the play, crackles.

I was less enamoured of Michael Esper's Tom. Clearly he's a fine actor but the role has been interpreted strangely, as a shouty, hyperactive young man literally bouncing off the non-existent walls. For me, he should be much more like his sister; a loner, a poet, a dreamer. His own version of Laura's glass menagerie is the movies. He goes every night, to escape, to dream. He has that and Laura doesn't - that's the difference.

But, when all's said and done, The Glass Menagerie is a great play, virtually a perfect play, and this is an excellent production. Not to be missed.

I adored this. A stunning production, with stunning performances.

Yet they are having to paper

Shame

Saw this on Friday. Loved the production and loved the performances - didn't mind Michael Esper but what on Earth is was that accent? Definitely not my favourite play though. The story is solid but some of the dialogue just meandered about.

Just done a review on my blog for anyone interested: westendwanderer.com/2017/03/18/review-the-glass-menagerie-duke-of-yorks-theatre-london/

Saw this a while back.

Kate O'Flynn stole the acting honours for me.

It would probably be rude not to see it again at that price. Didn't see the water effect from my previous seat.

Note the £20 deal is only available for 24 hours.

She is a fine actress and getting better. As obvious as it was post Great Britain that Billie Piper was on the cusp of giving a great performance it is obvious that o'Flynn will soon too.

I believe they're front stalls so you won't see the floor and might find a box on stage blocks some of the action, but you'll be close at least.