The Glass Menagerie ~ State Theatre Company ~ Review

[Theatre, SA]

State Theatre Company
Odeon Theatre, Norwood
Wed 15 Nov, 2025

From time to time emotions burst like thunder across the theatre, but it is the unspoken, suppressed desires that drive The Glass Menagerie, holding the tension like an electric field. Each of the characters is in their own way longing for more, for something other than what they have. However Laura, the keeper of the glass menagerie, is the only one not driven to change her circumstances. Hers is a passive, inner hope.

Tennessee Williams manages to take a decent swipe at the great American dream, which claims that self-improvement leads to success and wealth. And this theme resonates strongly today when the crassness and corruption of capitalism is being exposed daily.

Laura, played by Kathryn Adams, is the counter-point to this need for greed. She is smothered by her over-bearing mother Amanda, played by Ksenja Logos. She is over-powering in her expectations, both for Laura and her son Tom. But Laura is perhaps the only one who expresses her true emotions. Although she speaks the least, she shows her deepest feelings through her subtle changes of expression. Along with the hope of a better future, light and magic are also recurring themes. But when illusion becomes their belief system, is there still a place for magic? Just as light shines through the translucent glass, the stage design by Mark Thompson transforms the glass menagerie into a symbolic work of art, entirely open to your interpretation.

Could it be a portal into another dimension, a vortex to another world, or is it a model of our DNA, as if we are looking into the minutest space of our being? It is Williams’ genius to have both these universal themes and the intimate exploration of our human condition compressed into this intense experience. The fragility of our minds is reflected in their failure to find happiness and fulfilment, and the ever-present possibility of another breakage of the delicate glass objects.

It is especially clear in the reversal of fortune by the gentleman caller Jim, played by Jono Darby. Yet despite a period of self-doubt, he continues to strive and encourage others to do the same. ‘Today light is all lightning,’ says Tom, Laura’s brother played by Laurence Boxhall. He is a frustrated writer who like his father carries on searching through constant movement, just for the sake of it. But is this pursuing a purpose, or is it the same as Laura, drifting aimlessly through life?

All members of the ensemble give strong, superb performances, supported by an excellent production team. The lighting by Gavin Norris is exquisite, the music by composer Jamie Hornsby and sound designer Andrew Howard complements the script perfectly.

When a storm plunges the cast into darkness, we ask how much control do we as humans have over the source of light? Maybe this question mirrors the way we seek to control our instincts, keeping them in the dark, and shining light only on what we consider worthy and hope will grow. In the end it is the power of the poetic language that creates mesmerising, relentless momentum – that captivating quality only live theatre can conjure up.

4.5 stars

David Cronin

The Glass Menagerie continues at Odeon Theatre, Norwood at various times until 7th December.  Click HERE to purchase tickets.