Despite superb acting and Patrick Marber’s nimble direction, Marius von Mayenburg’s unsettling drama about the legacy of the Holocaust proves problematic…
There is something extraordinarily powerful about simple storytelling. Although Samantha Spiro, the narrator of this story is actually addressing a packed theatre, it felt like she spoke directly to me as she began ‘Once upon a time…’. The tale she tells is not a fairy story, although…
Despite a long history of living in relative peace with their neighbours, I have to admit that my first recollections of hearing about the Jews of Baghdad was when I read about the shocking fate of nine of them, hanged in public, along with three Muslims and two Christians, all accused…
If ever there was a drama that delivered what it says on the tin, this is it. Rock ’n’ Roll suffuses the action and not just as background musical motif. The Tom Stoppard show premiered in 2006 at London’s Royal Court Theatre, predating his award-winning 2020 Leopoldstadt, which…
When Japan famously featured in Puccini’s opera Madam Butterfly in 1904, the Treaty of Kanagawa – which opened up Japan to the West – was 50 years in the past. Fast forward to 1976 and the events took centre stage once again in Stephen Sondheim’s musical Pacific Overtures. The…
Panto has long been a staple of the Christmas season, but what of Hanukkah? JW3 has just the ticket! The north London Jewish cultural centre has not only put on a cracker of a show (running until early January, including…
Escapologist Harry Houdini was a legend in his own lifetime. His headline-grabbing stunts, involving mystifying, often lurid escapes from chains, padlocks, water tanks and suspension from skyscrapers, ensured that his reputation would live on long after his death. He boasted that he…
In light of the current tension in the Middle East and an increase in antisemitic activity around the world, it would seem there's little to laugh about right now. Cue the musical with idiosyncratic punctuation in its title, a UK debut from Israeli playwright and composer Uri Agnon that's not…