A new play about antisemitism is, you might think, rather timely. In fact, Broken Glass currently playing at the Young Vic is an old play about antisemitism, one of the last works written by Arthur Miller in 1994. And while I should say from the start this is not on a par with his earlier plays – The Crucible and Death of a Salesman come to mind – it delivers the depth of characterisation, the clarity of dialogue and, above all, the passion you expect from one of America’s greatest playwrights.
It is set in Brooklyn in 1938 but it is haunted by Kristallnacht, the pogrom whereby Nazi power was recognised as unassailable in Germany and the seeds of genocide were born. While the story was reported in the US press, most of Miller’s Brooklyn characters see all this as too remote to ever affect them and, as one of them points out, it would never catch on in Germany, a country renowned for its culture and music.
Pearl Chanda as Sylvia
Just one of them recognises the true horror of what is going on – Sylvia, a Jewish wife and mother, whose “hysterical paralysis” is inexplicable to those around her. Simply put, her legs stop working. Her husband, Philip, proud of being the only Jew in his otherwise WASP-ish company and her doctor, Harry, who employs not just specious Freudianisms but some very questionable diagnostic techniques (“Imagine we’ve just made love, Sylvia”) certainly find it inexplicable. Unless, of course, it’s a reaction to what is happening in Germany.
Certainly, Sylvia is driven distracted by images of old men being forced to their knees to scrub pavements with toothbrushes but there is a profoundly unhappy marriage to consider here, too. As Harry explores the possible causes of Sylvia’s paralysis, the flaws in the marriage, the essential loneliness of the characters and their relationship with their Jewishness are all exposed.
Meanwhile, Nazi power consolidates in Germany while our characters are, for the main part, complacent. The epigram that “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing” comes inexorably to mind and Miller’s message is, as it were, crystal clear.
Jordan Fein’s bold production has an urgency that switches between dimmed lamplight around the bedridden Sylvia to enveloping the audience in the stage’s brightest lights. There’s no interval and it moves at pace, the actors often on seats that resemble the audience’s own and sometimes becalmed behind a window watching the action. The cast is uniformly excellent including the smaller roles – Nancy Carroll as Harry’s wife Margaret, Juliet Cowan as Harriet and Nigel Whitmey as Philip’s boss.
Eli Gelb and Nigel Whitmey in Broken Glass at The Young Vic
Pearl Chanda is a sympathetic Sylvia who, despite the “hysterical” diagnosis is surely the sanest of them all, seeing “some truth other people are blind to” as her doctor finally admits. As Harry Hymen, Alex Waldmann is both beguiling and beguiled by Sylvia herself, finally realising he’s out of his depth. Eli Gelb as Philip gives a tour de force performance starting as a buttoned-up, self-hating Jew and descending into a shocking and unnerving undoing.
It might not be Miller’s most perfectly composed writing but this is a gripping, coruscating piece with hypnotic performances – and it couldn’t be more timely.
Broken Glass runs at the Young Vic until 18th April. For more information, and for tickets, please visit www.youngvic.org.
Photos by Tristram Kenton
