Arizona Jewish Theater Company's Broken Glass at The Herberger Theatre Stage West
(out of 
)Mark S.P. Turvin
(home office) (602) 912-0117
I can be reached for comment via e-mail at: mspt@goldfishpublishers.com
Reviewed 2/13/99
(out of )Morality is at the heart of every Arthur Miller script. It's true that his concentration on the common man, and his recent movement toward Jewish social and religious topics also dominate his scripts, but ultimately, the more that Miller's characters give away of their souls, the larger their punishment. One of Mr. Miller's recent scripts, Broken Glass, is the perfect example of this. And while the script is not quite as all-encompassing as All My Sons, or as tragic as Death of a Salesman, it still is a very interesting morality play with many comments to make on oppressions of all types and sizes.
Set in 1938, during the rise of Nazism and government-sanctified
anti-Semitism, a Brooklyn couple are forced to deal with the wife's
psychosomatic paralysis. This affliction could exist for many
disparate reasons, such as the couple's bitter marriage, her husband's
futile attempted assimilation into the Gentile world, her obsession
with Hitler's assault on German Jews, or just as a plea for attention.
It is up to the couple's doctor to discover the root of this illness.
Ultimately, Miller's characters prove that connections between
humans can be the most wonderful, and most painful, of things.
Director Matthew Mazuroski has collected a very talented
cast, and kept up the pacing of what could have been an overlong
script. He has wisely punched up certain sections to play them
for their humor, and this helps keep the show from becoming sallow.
The success of this production resides with the director and his
very professional cast.
The three leads, Nicolas Glaeser as the uptight banker
husband, Phillip, Robyn Allen as his stricken, old-before-her-time
wife, Sylvia, and Kim Bennett as the probing Dr. Hyman,
perform Mr. Miller's dense work in a very believable and natural
way, using the rhythms of Miller's language to help raise the
levels of the play. Mr. Glaeser seems at first to be too uptight
to be real, but as his character's frustrations are revealed,
one begins to see that Mr. Glaeser's choices are dead-on accurate.
Ms. Allen's characterization seems subdued, too, at first, but
again, when she and Mr. Bennett have a free-association discussion
about her fears, she justifies her initial limitations. Finally,
Mr. Bennett just doesn't seem Jewish enough for his role, but
it is revealed textually in the second act that this is part of
his character, and thus any hesitations of the three performances
are wiped clean by the end of the show.
On the level of the lead's performances is Gwen Loeb as
Dr. Hyman's non-Jewish wife, Margaret. She has an easy feel for
the role, and never seems forced, despite the fact that her character
is written in such a way as to allow stereotypical characterizations.
Unfortunately, the performances of Razel Wolf as Sylvia's
sister, Harriet, and Rob Sucato as Phillip's naturally
anti-Semitic boss, Stanton Case, are not quite as stellar as the
others. For Mr. Sucato, there is little textual room for him to
be anything other than a cardboard cutout, and Ms. Wolf's performance
seems less naturalistic. Other than these two minor points, the
shows performances are masterful.
Geoffrey M. Eroe's set was interesting, creating three
separate spaces with odd angles to represent the Gellburg's off-kilter
world, although the use of enormous panels representing broken
glass above the set that remained in shadows and were lit at very
specific moments seemed a bit too obvious a choice. Paul Black's
Lighting Design was solid, as was David Empey's Sound Design,
and David M. Anaya, Jr.'s period costumes.
The themes of isolation, alienation, and oppression are well-expressed
in this show, and though very specifically concentrated on the
Jewish experience, are still accessible to all cultures. There
is a real joy, though, of hearing Mr. Miller's weighted words
expressed by impressive performers, despite the sometimes near-suffocating
heft of the issues they express.
Production Details:
Broken Glass by Arthur Miller
Arizona Jewish Theatre Company
The Herberger Theatre Stage West, Phoenix
(602) 252-8497
February 13th - February 28th, 1999