The Glass Menagerie, Barbican

Two titans of European theatre come to the Barbican as Belgian auteur Ivo van Hove directs French stage and screen star Isabelle Huppert in a new version of The Glass Menagerie. Tennessee William's 1945 classic is re-imagined in a French-language version co-produced by Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe and the Barbican.

Huppert plays Amanda, an ageing Southern belle whose glamorous aspirations have fallen by the wayside in her limited life with two adult children. There's Tom, a wannabe writer who drinks to dull the boredom of a factory job. And there's Laura, a fragile creature who cannot cope with the real world so invests all her energies into a collection of glass animals. Then when a mysterious gentleman arrives one evening, the uneasy equilibrium is shattered.

With themes of solitude and illusion, The Glass Menagerie is Williams' most intimate and autobiographical play. Ivo van Hove will delve into the memories that shape the narrative to examine the ghosts within the text.


The Glass Menagerie is performed in French with English surtitles.