A funny thing happened on the way to the funeral

Steve Furst has never lacked direction. After decades as an actor, most recently appearing alongside Sienna Miller in Sky’s divorce drama War, he’s had more directors than he can count telling him how to move, stand or think about a role. Now that it’s his turn, he’s picked up a few ideas about how not to do it.

“I’m not one for telling people the specifics,” he says. “Let them find that for themselves. That’s not a director’s job.”  Admittedly, Furst has directed himself in his one-man shows, although working with himself hasn’t always been easy. “I can behave like a dick,” he laughs. “I talk to myself like a child and the inner child gets very upset.”

His first experience directing a cast is Wit’s End, a new comedy by Estée Stimler at Hampstead’s Circle & Star theatre, which Furst also runs. Originally called Shiva, the play follows three siblings, an aunt by marriage and a rabbi who moonlights as a comedian, as a family funeral descends into farce.

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The change of title was deliberate. Furst wants to attract audiences beyond the Jewish community and “avoid anyone mistaking Shiva for a play about the Hindu god.” He feels strongly about this, and together we recall a time when Jackie Mason could fill a London theatre with people who weren’t Jewish but loved the jokes. Mel Brooks and early Woody Allen had the same appeal. So what happened?

“There was much more of a crossover,” says Furst. “We love that kind of laughing at ourselves. When you grow up in a Jewish household, there’s a lot of joke telling, a certain rhythm to the way people talk, and it’s joyful.” He believes comedy can help restore that connection. “We need that joyful banter back and that gateway that people have got, which is via humour, into loving Jews.”

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And what could be more universal than a family falling apart at a funeral? “It’s family in the face of death and the coping mechanism. Some people use religion, and some people run away from that,” he observes. “Some people use money, and others use humour. Estée’s not written it to be in any way serious. It’s very funny all the way through. It’s also loving, but definitely not serious.”

Humour is also Furst’s personal survival mechanism. “Without that I’d probably be a crumbling mess.”  The production will make full use of the Circle & Star’s intimacy. Audiences will receive orders of service instead of programmes, men will be offered kippot and the cast will mingle with mourners attending Marvin Becker’s fictional funeral. “And the coffin failing to fit into the grave?” jokes Furst. “That happens offstage. It’s my job to use the cast to create that tension and farce. It’s all about the words and the interplay.”

Furst believes the 70-minute comedy could eventually become a longer play or television film. For now, he’s concentrating on his five actors, creating the right atmosphere and, knowing Stimler, accommodating the catering. “Adjustable waistbands for the cast will be de rigueur. There’s going to be a lot of gluten-based products before, during and after the show.”

Wit’s End is at the Circle & Star, Hampstead from 9-22 November. witsend.circleandstar.live