To coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) this Thursday, Manchester Jewish Museum (MJM) launches a newly commissioned short film created by local artist…
In less than an hour, a promotional film about the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra sails at a rate of knots through nearly a century of cultural history. Its aim is to open the pockets of potential donors, but it's likely to open their…
Nothing about life stays the same and food is no exception. If we look at what our parents enjoyed eating and compare that with what's in our supermarkets, fridges and cupboards, it’s quite incredible how different they are. When once it was a whole salmon poached in a fish…
Jewish themes rarely crop up in classical opera, so it's no surprise that Giuseppe Verdi sent shock waves through Europe with his third opera Nabucco in 1842. The piece replaces drab arias and emotionless principals with a dramatic retelling of Jewish Middle Eastern history…
Alan Plater’s portrait of Peggy Ramsay, the agent he shared with a galaxy of fellow playwrights, premiered at Hampstead Theatre in 1999 with Maureen Lipman in the title role, subsequently transferring to the West End. Richard Wilson’s sparky new production of Plater’s day…
Frank Wedekind wrote his daring exploration of teenage angst and repression in 1891, but thanks to scenes graphically exploring pubescent sexual fantasies onstage, it was premiered only in 1906 and has often been censored or banned. Its setting in a time of sexual repression is vital…
Billing Alan Bennett’s 1973 comedy as "a filthy farce from a less enlightened age" is a canny move. It pretty well pre-empts any cancelling by detractors in 2021, shocked by the fun in that age of trouser-dropping and accidental bosom fondling, typified by the long-running so-called…
After 10 years of planning, two years of construction and £6 million, the shiny new Manchester Jewish Museum (MJM) is being handed over to new management. Chief Executive Max Dunbar and Chair of Trustees Andrew Singer QC…
Founded in 2009, Jnetics is a small charity with a big ambition – to make a real difference to the prevention and diagnosis of Jewish genetic disorders. As well as raising awareness in the field, Jnetics also provides support…
Sir Antony Sher was one of the great actors of our time, perhaps best known for his outstanding performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company from the 1980s to his trilogy as Falstaff (2014), Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (2015) and Lear (2016, 2018), all…
It was in 1972 that Stephen Sondheim’s musical Company arrived in London. With apparently no storyline, save for the efforts of his friends to change the marital status of Bobby, the bachelor guy around whom these couples and girlfriend hopefuls revolve, it may have puzzled some…
Last Sunday saw the return of Mitzvah Day, the UK’s largest faith-led day of social action. Every year in November, thousands of Jews, people of other faiths and no faith come together to give their time – not money – to make a…
Chabad Lubavitch Islington invites Jewish and non-Jewish communities accross London to commemorate the first night of Chanukah in a spirit of interfaith, tolerance and cohesion. The centrepiece of the celebration is the…
This moving romantic drama about a struggling Cuban ballet dancer, who crosses paths with an Iranian-Canadian Jewish woman looking for love, brings the 25th UK Jewish Film Festival to a vibrant close this week. Sin La Habana screens online and in person at London's Picturehouse…
Adaptor/director Bill Alexander describes his relationship with The Merchant of Venice as "obsessive" and he's directed acclaimed productions at the RSC and Birmingham Rep. He flags up his intention to rethink Shakespeare’s problematical comedy by paring the cast…
