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Young Vic’s ‘Broken Glass’ Wins Praise for Timely Power and Inventive Staging

Reviewers highlight Pearl Chanda’s lead turn in a probing look at Jewish identity.

Overview

  • Jordan Fein directs Arthur Miller’s 1994 drama at the Young Vic in London, with the run advertised through 18 April and performances staged straight through without an interval.
  • Set in Brooklyn in 1938, the play follows Sylvia Gellburg’s sudden paralysis after consuming reports of Kristallnacht, framing a crisis of fear and identity.
  • Critics single out Pearl Chanda’s performance as magnetic, with Eli Gelb’s Philip and Alex Waldmann’s Dr Harry Hyman also noted for their intensity.
  • Rosanna Vize’s design creates a claustrophobic arena with piles of newspapers, thick pink carpet, a glass observation window with timezone clocks, visible house lights, and a circling goldfish.
  • Reviews describe the production as topical and emotionally potent in its closing moments despite verbose, talky stretches earlier in the two-hour performance.