5. The Glass Menagerie - Young Vic

I don't really know what to say about this one, it had many excellent elements which I'll discuss below and I can't pick out anything that didn't work for me but when I left the theatre I didn't particularly feel anything, it hadn't left me with any overriding emotion. Perhaps it was just that I was distracted by the presence of Greg Doran and Anthony Sher two rows in front of me (did I mention I love Greg Doran's brain?). Really though I think it's that, despite being excellently written and on the surface the ideal sort of family based drama for me, I didn't connect emotionally with the story.

That's not a flaw of the production though, which I said was excellent. I loved the way they played with the joint ideas of illusion and memory. The opening sweep up of the curtain to reveal the family was thrilling and beautifully set Tom slightly apart from the rest of the action, there were lots of moments when he was literally stood above his family watching what was happening (just wanted to briefly mention here how much I loved the use of space and levels in this). Which I thought, given Leo Bill's performance, added some interesting elements to this exploration of how families mess us up. I also liked that every character had to descend into the family home, a particular sort of hell. It did mean you were left with a vast feeling of space though and I'd be interested to see it one of the more claustrophobic venues.

I also really enjoyed the use of lighting and sound to create the sense of memory - it was masterfully managed throughout - and I really loved the choice of instruments, the simplicity of the piano and the eerieness of the glass harp. And obviously combined with Laura's glass ornaments it adds to the haunting, magical feel of the piece. They also play interestingly with absence and I loved the parallel of the absent father and the Victrola, which is a constant presence but I don't think is actually ever played - it's music is absence.

The performances are all superb and it' seems wrong somehow to highlight anyone, but Sinéad Matthews really is stunning in this. A very nuanced and seemingly unusual performance - seeing her Laura unfurl in the final scenes was beautiful and the collapse again afterwards difficult to watch. Definitely well worth seeing even if somehow it didn't completely work for me.