![]() ![]() ![]() Honeyman has proven time and time again what magnificent performances she can get from her actors. (The other one came in the otherwise forgettable ‘The Maids’ that played at City Hall.) She plays Sylvia with a mixture of vulnerability and stubbornness that will linger in the memory for years to come.Īll of the other actors deliver performances of note as well, and there is little surprise in this. This is the second great performance I’ve seen from Danford in a matter of a few months. What he delivers is a truly complex and fascinating character study that is enrapturing for every moment it is on stage.Įvery bit Sher’s equal, and even overshadowing the knight at times is Susan Danford, who plays Gellburg’s wife Sylvia, somebody who is suffering from a form of psychosomatic paralysis in her legs, supposedly due to major stress over what is happening to the Jews in Germany. Some might feel that he can be too overpowering an actor for such a supposedly wimpy character, but I disagree. Sher captures all of that in his portrayal, and it is at times astounding to look at and engage with. Miller’s genius was his ability to draw characters that are so realistic and multi-dimensional that they feel like true, living and breathing people, yet at the same time there is also something almost cosmically grand about his “losers”. It was written in 1994, and is remarkable for being both backward and forward looking.Īt the heart of ‘Broken Class’ is Phillip Gellburg (Sher), a self-hating Jew every bit as “schmucky” as Biff, although an individual clouded in the perception of being accepted in the professional world despite his Jewishness. It might be dealing with what many would now consider ancient history, namely the persecution of Jews during the events of Kristallnacht during the height of Nazi Germany, but it still feels very contemporary because the events are filtered through the eyes of regular people. Which brings me to ‘Broken Glass’ and Janice Honeyman’s excellent production at the Fugard Theatre, starring Sir Antony Sher. But for all intents and purposes, George’s character is based on Biff.Īmerica’s onetime favourite sitcom namedropping and actively engaging with a play is a testament to the extent to which Miller’s creations endure and can haunt one, even years or decades after one would imagine their relevancy had worn off. In an episode of the old sitcom ‘Seinfeld’ for instance, George Costanza resents being compared to Biff in ‘Death Of A Salesman’, according to him the biggest loser in all of American literature. ![]() Yet his aesthetic and his sharp insights have endured and even infiltrated a popular culture that appears to have moved beyond such seemingly unfashionable things as plays. VENUE: At the Fugard Theatre until 16 Aprilįor someone who got to marry Marilyn Monroe and pretty much appeared to live the life during his time, Arthur Miller sure was concerned with characters that one can only call “schmucks” people on the wrong end of the American Dream. Susan Danford and Sir Antony Sher in ‘Broken Glass’ĬAST: Antony Sher, Susan Danford, Stephen Jennings, Anthea Thompson, Claire Berlein, Patrick Lyster, Cheryl de Havilland Sher and Danford triumph in ‘Broken Glass’ ![]()
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