The Glass Menagerie returns to The MAC

Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie is back in Belfast, and this is not a small revival. Tinderbox has put together a major new production that marks the first professional staging of the play in Northern Ireland in more than twenty years, so it carries a bit of weight before it even opens. It runs from 20 to 27 October at The MAC Belfast, on the Main Stage, and the whole run is strictly limited to only nine performances, which means there isn't much room to put it off once it starts.

At the helm is Patrick J O'Reilly, who picked up a UK Theatre Award in 2024 for his revival of Ionesco's Rhino, and he has leaned into the play's obsession with the past. The production is inspired by old Hollywood cinema and set within a faded cinema of memories, a fitting backdrop for a story that is as much about remembering as it is about living. The Wingfield family — Amanda, Laura and Tom — are the centre of it all, and the cast is rounded out by Úna Kavanagh as Amanda, Louise Parker as Laura, Thomas Galashan as Tom and Jacob Baird as Jim O'Connor. The creative team fills out the rest: Paul Keogan on set and lighting, Rosie McClelland on costumes and Daniel Quigley on composition and sound.

The run opens with a preview on Tuesday 20 October at 7:30pm, and from there it settles into a fairly full week. There are school performances on Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 October at 11:00am, with regular evening shows on Tuesday 20, Wednesday 21, Thursday 22, Friday 23 and Tuesday 27 October, all at 7:30pm. Sunday 25 October is the busy day, with a 2:30pm matinee and a 7:30pm evening performance. It is a long show — 150 minutes, or two and a half hours including the interval — and it is aimed at ages 13 and over, so it is not one to bring very young children to.

On price, tickets sit between £21.50 and £25.50, which includes the ticket charge. School tickets are £16, with every eleventh ticket free, and there is a £1.50 booking fee on online and phone bookings. That fee is waived for in-person purchases, free events, school and community groups, assistant staff and 16-25 tickets, so it is worth weighing up whether to book at the box office in person rather than online. Tickets are on sale now at themaclive.com and at The MAC Box Office, and the production is presented by special arrangement with The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee and International Literary Properties.

For a play that has been off the professional Northern Irish stage for two decades, this is a significant return. The limited run means it will be in and out of town in little more than a week, so if you have been waiting to catch The Glass Menagerie properly, this is the window. Between the preview on the 20th and the final show on the 27th, there are only nine chances to see it, and with a two-and-a-half-hour runtime, it is a commitment worth planning around rather than turning up to on a whim.