The pink neon ladder heading ever upwards is a visual cue to the USP of what turns out to be a timely, thought-provoking revival of a satirical musical, that is very much of the moment. The title refers to a handy little self-help…
Father/daughter duo Victoria and Todd Buchholz – the former a singer-songwriter, the latter a best-selling author, inventor and senior White House economic adviser – have collaborated on this exciting new musical. It tells the story of the wartime rescue missions undertaken by Italian…
This original comedy from Canadian Jewish playwright Jason Sherman opens in the classroom of young Hebrew school teacher Rachel Benjamin, where she’s in trouble for her even-handedness over the need for a two-state solution in Israel. But while tackling disputatious parents of pupils…
A new platform launches tonight to offer resources and an online community for Jewish fiction writers and those writing literature of Jewish interest around the world. The Global Jewish Literary Alliance aims to encourage more…
I was saddened at the recent death of Barry Humphries, a consummate, warm and witty performer. Born in Melbourne in 1934, it was always evident that Humphries – who would dress up as various characters at a young age to entertain his parents and their friends – would grow…
I discovered Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work when it first came out. It’s a brilliantly-made film by RickiStern and Anne Sundberg that looks at this comedian of a certain age, at a time in her life when she’s trying to stay relevant…
Israeli author Meir Shalev was born on 29 July 1948, just after the foundation of the State of Israel. He was part of the generation that includes historian Benny Morris, fellow writer David Grossman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He was born to a family of wordsmiths…
‘Immersive' and 'moving' are adjectives that one might use figuratively to describe a theatrical experience. I’m using them literally here. As a promenader following the action around the ever-shifting levels on the interconnected hydraulic platforms of designer Bunny Christie’s flexible…
As you know, last year we announced that JR were Keep Britain Tidy’s official ambassadors to the Jewish community and we’re taking on that role once again for the Great British Spring Clean 2023. This annual campaign to get…
Ever since my beloved late husband Steve thought to buy his ’n' hers litter pickers for our 45th wedding anniversary during the 2020 lockdown, I have been litter picking almost daily – so much so that I've started to think of my pretty…
Chaim Topol was born in Tel Aviv. His father was a Russian immigrant and worked as a plasterer. His mother was a seamstress. His first film appearances came in the early 1960s and he made his breakthrough in the 1964 Israeli film Sallah Shabati, alongside George Segal, for which he…
Shai Agnon and Hayim Nahman Bialik are the two Ukrainian heavyweights of modern Hebrew literature, the former in prose – in fact Agnon remains the only Hebrew author to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature – and the latter in poetry. Far from being in competition, they…
For actor Tracy-Ann Oberman and director Brigid Larmour, this radical reimagining of the Shakespeare classic has been years in the making (including a two-year delay thanks to the pandemic). Indeed, Oberman herself said it's been "a lifelong dream of mine to bring this play to the stage…
Daniel Fish’s production of the first collaboration between composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein arrives in the West End from Off and then On Broadway via The Young Vic. As a daringly imaginative staging of this iconic musical, it deserves all the plaudits it's earned…