Broken Glass

Broken Glass is a play (1994) by American playwright Arthur Miller (1915-2005). A play which explores themes of guilt, personal tragedy and love in the lives of a Jewish couple living in New York in 1938, deeply affected by the horrific anti-Semitic events of that ominous night. A major, coordinated attack on Jews throughout Germany on the night of 9 November 1938, and into the next day, is recorded in the history books as Kristallnacht, or The Night of Broken Glass. Jewish homes, shops and villages throughout Germany and parts of Austria were ransacked, leaving the streets covered in pieces of smashed windows. It is regarded by many historians as one of the events that pre-empted the Holocaust. A sell-out season of the Olivier award-winning drama Broken Glass was put on at The Tricycle Theatre in London in 2010, starring Antony Sher.

Performance history in South Africa

1995: South African première at the Rhodes Theatre at the Grahamstown Festival, 14-15 July 1995, directed for CAPAB by Roy Sargeant, with Percy Sieff (Phillip Gellburg), Diane Wilson (Sylvia Gellburg), Brian O’Shaughnessy (Dr Harry Hyman), Shirley Johnston (Margaret Hyman), Jacqui Singer (Harriet) and Ralph Lawson (Stanton Case). After the festival the production moved to the Arena Theatre at the Nico Malan Theatre, opening 25 July 1995. Design by Michael Mitchell, lighting by John T. Baker, music by Michael Tuffin.

2011: Produced at the Fugard Theatre in South Africa 22 March to 16 April 2011, by the Fugard Theatre and producer Eric Abraham, with Antony Sher,Susan Danford, Stephen Jennings, Anthea Thompson, Claire Berlein and Patrick Lyster, and directed by Janice Honeyman.

Sources

http://www.artlink.co.za/news_article.htm?contentID=26682

Broken Glass theatre programme, 1995.

National Arts Festival programme, 1995. 57.

Mail and Guardian, 7 April 2011.

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