Mrs Frankowitz makes her theatre debut at Camden Fringe
Fiona Green is a features writer
Mrs Frankowitz – the Jewish community’s outrageous answer to Mrs Merton – is preparing for her stage debut, when she treads the boards at this year’s Camden Fringe, writes Fiona Leckerman.
The comic creation’s alter ego, 29-year-old Katie Burnetts, has co-written and co-produced Gelt, which opens on Monday for a three-night run at Etcetera Theatre.
Burnetts, who works for an independent television company, says of Mrs Frankowitz: “She was a character that I introduced a couple of years ago at the Edinburgh Fringe. It got very popular. I then started doing stand-up routines and posting videos to YouTube.”
The premise of Gelt revolves around Mrs Frankowitz’s grandson Joe (Josh Howie) and his girlfriend Emma (Liz Garland), who are desperate to get onto the property ladder.
The Jewish matriarch reveals she is dying and when she is gone they can have her four-bedroom house, but added into the mix are northern lodger Danny (Tom Newton) and her best friend Hetty (Carrie Cohen).
Joe and Emma are saved, but will her generous offer come at a price? According to Burnetts, the play “touches on the zeitgeist of what young couples are going through post recession.”
She adds: “It is autobiographical in parts and quite personal where the influences of my mother and grandma are evident.
“I am hugely astonished by the range of Yiddish I have acquired and I injected that into the writing of this play. It is an amalgamation of all the stuff that is quite lovely about growing up as a Jewish girl.”
Gelt is a farce with a heart – a funny, dark and sweet play that will hopefully leave you feeling happy.
• Gelt at the Camden Fringe from 28 July to 30 July at Etcetera Theatre, Camden. www.camdenfringe.com
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
