Glasmenageriet (The Glass Menagerie) is Tennessee Williams' breakthrough play from 1944, widely regarded as a work of autofiction. The story is filtered through the memory of Tom, the son, whose recollections frame the family's drama over a handful of intense, fateful days.
At the centre is Amanda, the mother, who lives vicariously through her children — torn between the desire to free them and the compulsion to control their destinies. Her daughter Laura is her opposite: introverted and fragile, she retreats into a world of delicate glass figurines, her inner life opaque even to those closest to her.
Amanda schemes to get Laura either into the workforce or married, but Tom's protective pity for his sister keeps Laura locked in dependency. When Tom invites his friend Jim to dinner and Amanda sees a potential suitor for Laura, illusions collapse and the glass house shatters.
The production is directed by Skuespilhuset's resident director Anna Balslev, in creative partnership with set designer Laura Løwe — a duo known for striking stagings of classical works. Together they ask: can you ever truly escape where you come from, and are you as trapped by contempt as by conciliation?
Recommended for ages 12 and over. Performed on Store Scene at Skuespilhuset.