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Telegraph
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Why this is a golden age for Jewish theatre
My Jewish mother does not go to the theatre often. But when she does, she sees Fiddler on the Roof. She has seen it so many times she could understudy any character at a moment's notice. In fairness she did attend a Pinter play once, but walked out at the first infamous Pinter Pause thinking it was the interval. Naturally she was ecstatic when the Open Air Regent's Park theatre revived Fiddler last year, even more so when a transfer to the Barbican (which has just opened) was announced. Garlanded with 13 nods at this year's Olivier awards, Jordan Fein's production matched the record set by Hamilton for the most nominations for a single show. Not bad for what Philip Roth once derided as 'shtetl kitsch.' In fact, Fiddler is not the only Jewish show to have become a critical hit in the past year. Principal among these was Mark Rosenblatt's Giant at the Royal Court, a fire-breathing study of Roald Dahl's virulent anti-Semitism; then there was Patrick Marber's production of What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, Nick Cassenbaum's After the Levoyah and the Marber-directed Nachtland. The popularity of Jewish-orientated shows seems incongruous when juxtaposed with skyrocketing anti-Semitism post October 7th. 2024 saw the second-highest recording of reported anti-Semitic incidents in a single calendar year according to the Community Security Trust, a charity which represents the UK's Jewish population. 'There have been countless examples of problems in the creative industries with soft boycotts and discrimination to anything with links to Israel' says literary agent and producer Neil Blair. 'I'm sure that Jewish writers have been scared to express their Jewishness as they fear they won't get published. It's been a tough time to be a proud Jew.' London theatre has seen numerous high-profile incidents of anti-Semitic controversies. Ken Loach 's 1987 production of Perdition was pulled from public performances at the Royal Court before the first preview. Historians declared Jim Allen's play historically unsound and deeply anti-Semitic. In 2011 Caryl Churchill's Seven Jewish Children also premiered to a chorus of opprobrium from across the British-Jewish community, once again at the Court. A recent new production produced by actor Brian Cox revived the contentious debate over the extent to which it straddles the murky line between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. 'And look what happened with Rare Earth Mettle' says Blair. Once again attached to the Court, Al Smith's 2021 play sparked outcry over 'Hershel Fink' an Elon Musk-inspired character with an unmistakably Jewish name seemingly imbued with anti-Semitic traits, even though the character was not written to be Jewish. The original name surfaced in preview performances before it was changed. The production still went ahead. 'It's astonishing that the theatre had initially claimed that they didn't realise Fink is a Jewish name,' says Blair. A consequent internal report found that despite the fact that the name had been twice flagged as potentially offensive in the play's development and rehearsal period the creative team kept the name. The theatre would go on to apologise 'unreservedly.' Jewish creatives have played a significant role in theatre since the early 20th century. Immigrants from Russia and Eastern Europe laid the artistic foundation stones of Broadway and the Jewish influence could be seen not only in explicitly Jewish shows like Fiddler, but also in productions which mirror the dynamics of the Jewish diaspora. Stories of overcoming the odds and forging a new home in America parallel the immigrant struggles of artists such as George Gershwin and Irving Berlin. Neither has there been a shortage of Jewish voices in the West End. Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard are arguably the two most influential dramatists of the 20 th century, then there are directors such as Peter Brook and Jonathan Miller, and even critics, Milton Shulman and Bernard Levin, the so-called kosher butchers. But it would be rare to see Jewish artistic self-expression in mainstream spaces that paralleled Broadway. The theatrical tradition in London was already richly established, with its own inheritance, traditions, and artistic canon. Jewish dramatists, usually second-generation immigrants, had to assimilate their storytelling, allowing it to lurk only beneath the surface. This was certainly the case with Harold Pinter. While the linguistic rhythms of Pinter's early work mirror the broken English of Eastern European immigrants, it's detectable on a narrative level too. Pinter drew from his childhood in Hackney for The Homecoming. Ruth can be easily interpreted as a non-Jewish woman marrying into a Jewish household overseen by a paranoid patriarch. Pinter took inspiration from a childhood friend who 'married out' – a transgressive violation considered to be a personal and cultural betrayal. Initial drafts set the action in the East End and referred to an unseen character named 'Berkowitz,' eventually exorcised from the final draft. Recent success at the Oliviers signals a paradigm shift in Jewish on-stage representation as dramatists openly interrogate the idiosyncrasies of contemporary Jewishness on mainstream stages. Rising anti-Semitism, war in Israel, consequent tension within the community are fertile dramatic soil ripe for theatrical exploration. Audiences, both Jewish and non-Jewish, are listening. 'Intelligent pieces of theatre are striking a chord because audiences want nuanced debate' says Tracy-Ann Oberman whose reworked version of The Merchant of Venice relocated the action to London's East End in 1936 under the looming shadow of Mosley's black shirts. After an initial run at the Watford Palace Theatre it embarked on a national tour as well as two West End runs. 'It's been on a journey for two and half years; the positive responses and interest from audiences across the country has warmed my heart,' she says. Oberman admits that its commercial success was unexpected, especially when compared with traditionally lucrative hits such as Fiddler on the Roof. Like Giant it was conceived before October 7 th but came to take on a new meaning in light of growing anti-Semitism. 'The Merchant of Venice showed what anti-Semitism looked like in 1936, that came to resonate with the rise of anti-Jewish racism today, especially how a lot of the vernacular about anti-Zionism bleeds into anti-Semitism' says Oberman. 'People understand that nothing is as black and white as some would have us believe. Art is the best way to show that.' Since the Hershel Fink debacle at the Royal Court, Oberman is adamant there has been significant progress around boosting awareness of Jewish culture. Questions over authentic casting and cultural appropriation are more prominent to the extent that the costume designer of the new production of Oliver! rang Oberman to run by ideas for Fagin's costume to ensure respect of cultural sensitives. 'The fact that he was willing to make that call with me was a huge step forward. If this is a Golden Age, then it's one of renewed understanding and consideration towards Jewish culture,' she says. As a consequence, Oberman has noticed more writers and artists wearing their Jewishness proudly on their sleeve. Perhaps other creative industries could take a leaf out of theatre's book. The ultimate test for this golden age is if Giant transfers to New York - not outside the realm of impossibility after its Olivier success. It is currently playing at the Harold Pinter Theatre – my mother has bought a ticket at my behest.
Times
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Was London audience on the side of an antisemite?
Last week I finally got to see Giant, the much-acclaimed play by Mark Rosenblatt about the antisemitism of the children's author Roald Dahl. It's superbly written and magnificently acted. But I found watching it in a London theatre deeply uncomfortable. The audience laughed sympathetically at the on-stage Dahl putting down the Jewish woman who objects to his rampant Jew-hatred. Was the audience actually nodding along to what he was saying? For some of his vile lines are what British Jews are now hearing as a matter of unexceptional routine. The play deals with the furore in 1983 after Dahl published a savage article in the Literary Review about Israel's war in Lebanon. 'Never before in the history of man,' he wrote, 'has a race
Times
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Giant review — John Lithgow's Roald Dahl conquers the West End
★★★★★Are we likely to see a more enthralling play in the West End this year? I very much doubt it. In fact, we'll be lucky to encounter a more thought-provoking piece in the next decade. Mark Rosenblatt's debut drama, first seen at the Royal Court last autumn, really is that good. Nicholas Hytner's immaculately paced production arrives at the Harold Pinter Theatre trailing a clutch of Olivier awards, and with the American actor John Lithgow reprising his incandescent portrayal of children's author Roald Dahl as an unforgettable mixture of wit, charm, bully and unfiltered antisemite. With the war in Gaza still making news, Rosenblatt's study could hardly be more timely. If the TV drama Adolescence did a solid job of catching the zeitgeist,
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Giant's triumph at the Oliviers proves theatre is finally taking anti-Semitism seriously
The decision to hand the hugely prestigious Olivier award for Best New Play to Mark Rosenblatt for Giant, together with two other Oliviers (John Lithgow and Elliot Levey taking Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor), isn't just a mightily deserved win for the director turned playwright, and the players concerned. It's a sign that British theatre is emphatically taking anti-Semitism seriously – and with mainstream intent – which is its vital duty in these febrile times. The work, which premiered last autumn at a resurgent Royal Court (and is about to open in the West End), stars American acting giant Lithgow, 79, as Roald Dahl, and is set in 1983, at an imagined crisis meeting with publisher Tom Maschler (Levey) and a fictitious US sales director Jessie Stone (Romola Garai). The upset follows the fierce anti-Israeli (and anti-Jewish) criticisms made by the avidly read children's author in a review of God Cried – a book recounting the 1982 siege of Beirut by the Israeli army. The underlying triumph of Nicholas Hytner's production is to assert that at a time of polarised views and unyielding agendas, theatre is the perfect space to explore complex, even incendiary subject-matter with nuance and subtlety, opening up debate, not rail-roading it. It hasn't felt like that of late – heavy-handedness and one-sidedness have, too often, been the order of the day. The clamour to see Giant reflects ardent interest in the topic and a yen for sophisticated drama. The boon but also the risk was that it landed in a year in which the issue of anti-Semitism, and the discourse around Israel, reached fever-pitch. Having grown out of Rosenblatt's concern about the politics, and prejudices, of Corbyn's Labour ('the blurring of language in the discussion around Israel and Judaism..,'), it got the green-light for production two days before the October 7 attacks. 'It's a play full of delicate sensitivities, and it met the world at the most sensitive and delicate of moments,' said Rosenblatt when accepting two Critics Circle awards the other week. In that context, its line-by-line mixture of light and shade seem even more like a counter-blast to our antagonised, black-and-white times. What's heartening about Giant is that its inescapable topicality grows out of its fidelity to its material. It's the polar opposite of the crass gesture that saw a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream pulled at the Royal Exchange in Manchester last year as a consequence of an activist-minded directorial decision to deploy a 'Free Palestine' slogan in the set. Rosenblatt brought much graft and craft to his subject; alongside imagination, reams of research and his own interviews. Rosenblatt crucially never editorialises, leaving it to the audience to be swayed in their sympathies. Some of Dahl's outrage about Israeli actions is, at the least, impassioned and eloquent. His impish contempt for 'cancel culture' avant la lettre even has quite an up-to-the-moment aura of the 'free speech warrior' about it. Only at the end, when he gets on the phone to speak to the New Statesman journalist Michael Coren, and we hear the oldest hatred conveyed loud and clear, does he become emetically indefensible. Coincidentally, the Oliviers were further dominated this year by three wins, including Best Musical Revival, for an exceptional staging of Fiddler on the Roof at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, directed by Jordan Fein, which had a record-breaking 13 nominations. Obviously this is a big crowd-pleaser (soon to transfer to the Barbican) with some of the best tunes (If I Were a Rich Man, Tradition) in the history of musical theatre. Yet, at a time of rising anti-Semitism, the decision to revive it carries an inescapable significance. Not that Fein's production labours any topical points. Apparently he banned talk of politics from the rehearsal space and any contemporary parallels are made with a sleight of hand. Rather we get due moments of terrific musical uplift, while Fein vividly lays bare the hardship of life in the shtetl, and the brutality of the Russian pogroms that set in train mass emigration at the start of the 20th century. There's clearly something in the air – theatre as a safety-valve for expressing alarm about cycles of history, the direction of travel. As SOLT (the Society of London Theatre) declared this week, citing mighty attendances in the West End (even outstripping, by far, Premier League matches), investment needs to happen across the sector to ensure it shines so brightly at the top (the three wins for the hit musical of Benjamin Button are dazzling vindications of the value of the Fringe). Equally, the West End is a powerhouse like no other because it answers a crucial need to gather and reflect as a society – and the all-new Giant, alongside the new-minted Fiddler, illustrate this. Brilliantly. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (Ambassadors Theatre) Oedipus (Wyndham's Theatre) Elliot Levey for Giant Romola Garai for The Years Gabriella Slade for Starlight Express Tom Scutt for Fiddler On The Roof Lesley Manville for Oedipus at Wyndham's Theatre John Lithgow for Giant Allan Clayton for Festen Festen (The Royal Opera at Royal Opera House) Eline Arbo for The Years at Almeida Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre Boys On The Verge Of Tears by Sam Grabiner at Soho Theatre Giant by Mark Rosenblatt (Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at Royal Court Theatre) Titanique by Tye Blue, Marla Mindelle & Constantine Rousouli (Criterion Theatre) Christopher Wheeldon for MJ The Musical Brainiac Live (Marylebone Theatre) Eva Yerbabuena for Yerbagüena Assembly Hall by Kidd Pivot, Crystal Pite & Jonathon Young (Sadler's Wells) Darren Clark and Mark Aspinall, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button Fiddler On The Roof, music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, book by Joseph Stein at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre Paule Constable & Ben Jacobs for Oliver! Nick Lidster for Fiddler On The Roof Maimuna Memon for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet Of 1812 Layton Williams for Titanique John Dagleish for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button Imelda Staunton for Hello, Dolly! Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
06-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Giant's Oliviers triumph proves theatre is finally taking anti-Semitism seriously
The decision to hand the hugely prestigious Olivier award for Best New Play to Mark Rosenblatt for Giant, together with two other Oliviers (John Lithgow and Elliot Levey taking Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor), isn't just a mightily deserved win for the director turned playwright, and the players concerned. It's a sign that British theatre is emphatically taking anti-Semitism seriously – and with mainstream intent – which is its vital duty in these febrile times. The work, which premiered last autumn at a resurgent Royal Court (and is about to open in the West End), stars American acting giant Lithgow, 79, as Roald Dahl, and is set in 1983, at an imagined crisis meeting with publisher Tom Maschler (Levey) and a fictitious US sales director Jessie Stone (Romola Garai). The upset follows the fierce anti-Israeli (and anti-Jewish) criticisms made by the avidly read children's author in a review of God Cried – a book recounting the 1982 siege of Beirut by the Israeli army. The underlying triumph of Nicholas Hytner's production is to assert that at a time of polarised views and unyielding agendas, theatre is the perfect space to explore complex, even incendiary subject-matter with nuance and subtlety, opening up debate, not rail-roading it. It hasn't felt like that of late – heavy-handedness and one-sidedness have, too often, been the order of the day. The clamour to see Giant reflects ardent interest in the topic and a yen for sophisticated drama. The boon but also the risk was that it landed in a year in which the issue of anti-Semitism, and the discourse around Israel, reached fever-pitch. Having grown out of Rosenblatt's concern about the politics, and prejudices, of Corbyn's Labour ('the blurring of language in the discussion around Israel and Judaism..,'), it got the green-light for production two days before the October 7attacks. 'It's a play full of delicate sensitivities, and it met the world at the most sensitive and delicate of moments,' said Rosenblatt when accepting two Critics Circle awards the other week. In that context, its line-by-line mixture of light and shade seem even more like a counter-blast to our antagonised, black-and-white times. What's heartening about Giant is that its inescapable topicality grows out of its fidelity to its material. It's the polar opposite of the crass gesture that saw a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream pulled at the Royal Exchange in Manchester last year as a consequence of an activist-minded directorial decision to deploy a 'Free Palestine' slogan in the set. Rosenblatt brought much graft and craft to his subject; alongside imagination, reams of research and his own interviews. Rosenblatt crucially never editorialises, leaving it to the audience to be swayed in their sympathies. Some of Dahl's outrage about Israeli actions is, at the least, impassioned and eloquent. His impish contempt for 'cancel culture' avant la lettre even has quite an up-to-the-moment aura of the 'free speech warrior' about it. Only at the end, when he gets on the phone to speak to the New Statesman journalist Michael Coren, and we hear the oldest hatred conveyed loud and clear, does he become emetically indefensible. Coincidentally, the Oliviers were further dominated this year by three wins, including Best Musical Revival, for an exceptional staging of Fiddler on the Roof at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, directed by Jordan Fein, which led the field with 13 nominations. Obviously this is a big crowd-pleaser (soon to transfer to the Barbican) with some of the best tunes (If I Were a Rich Man, Tradition) in the history of musical theatre. Yet, at a time of rising anti-Semitism, the decision to revive it carries an inescapable significance. Not that Fein's production labours any topical points. Apparently he banned talk of politics from the rehearsal space and any contemporary parallels are made with a sleight of hand. Rather we get due moments of terrific musical uplift, while Fein vividly lays bare the hardship of life in the shtetl, and the brutality of the Russian pogroms that set in train mass emigration at the start of the 20th century. There's clearly something in the air – theatre as a safety-valve for expressing alarm about cycles of history, the direction of travel. As SOLT (the Society of London Theatre) declared this week, citing mighty attendances in the West End (even outstripping, by far, Premier League matches), investment needs to happen across the sector to ensure it shines so brightly at the top (the three wins for the hit musical of Benjamin Button are dazzling vindications of the value of the Fringe). Equally, the West End is a powerhouse like no other because it answers a crucial need to gather and reflect as a society – and the all-new Giant, alongside the new-minted Fiddler, illustrate this. Brilliantly. Olivers 2025: The full list of winners Best New Musical The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (Ambassadors Theatre) Best Revival Oedipus (Wyndham's Theatre) Best Actor in a Supporting Role Elliot Levey for Giant Best Actress in a Supporting Role Romola Garai for The Years Best Costume Design Gabriella Slade for Starlight Express Best Set Design Tom Scutt for Fiddler On The Roof Best Actress Lesley Manville for Oedipus at Wyndham's Theatre Best Actor John Lithgow for Giant Outstanding Achievement in Opera Allan Clayton for Festen Best New Opera Production Festen (The Royal Opera at Royal Opera House) Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director Eline Arbo for The Years at Almeida Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre Best New Production in Affiliate Theatre Boys On The Verge Of Tears by Sam Grabiner at Soho Theatre Best New Play Giant by Mark Rosenblatt (Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at Royal Court Theatre) Noël Coward Award for Best New Entertainment or Comedy Play Titanique by Tye Blue, Marla Mindelle & Constantine Rousouli (Criterion Theatre) Gillian Lynne Award for Best Theatre Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon for MJ The Musical Best Family Show Brainiac Live (Marylebone Theatre) Outstanding Achievement in Dance Eva Yerbabuena for Yerbagüena Best New Dance Production Assembly Hall by Kidd Pivot, Crystal Pite & Jonathon Young (Sadler's Wells) Outstanding Musical Contribution Darren Clark and Mark Aspinall, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button Best Musical Revival Fiddler On The Roof, music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, book by Joseph Stein at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre Best Lighting Design Paule Constable & Ben Jacobs for Oliver! Best Sound Design Nick Lidster for Fiddler On The Roof Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical Maimuna Memon for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet Of 1812 Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical Layton Williams for Titanique Best Actor in a Musical John Dagleish for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button Best Actress in a Musical Imelda Staunton for Hello, Dolly!
