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Jewish performers bring talent and variety to Camden Fringe
Londoners can enjoy fantastic Jewish fringe theatre here in the capital until the end of August
No need to have FOMO if you’re not going to Edinburgh. Camden Fringe has got hundreds of offerings to keep you entertained over the next few weeks and some of them show how the power of theatre creativity in the pursuit of excellence can rise above politics and prejudice.
Belated, written by London-based Israeli Lola Fishbein, is a collaboration with award-winning Israeli Palestinian composer, songwriter and director Mira Awad.
Explains Lola: “Mira and I are friends and collaborators. We are together in the UK and removed from what is happening in the Middle East, but it does not mean that our hearts are not there, even though we live a full life here. Our partnership shows that the arts can rise above anything else that creates boundaries.
“I really believe that they can encourage love, joy and compassion for one another and fulfil a need within yourself. They allow creativity to thrive and for people to work as a team.”
Lola’s show Belated, written and performed by her, is largely based on her own life story. The play’s protagonist is Anna, a former professional dancer turned Pilates instructor to the rich and famous. Anna is worn out, from life, motherhood and a painful breakup, so she decides to give herself the 50th birthday party she deserves – two days before she turns 51. This is more than a party – it’s her chance to reclaim love, connection, and finally stage the one-woman show she’s always dreamed of performing.
Israeli Gur Arie Piepskovitz is reprising his popular show Earworm. “It’s Abigail’s Party with a gay twist,” said Gur, who now lives in London. “The play discusses themes of love and loss, drawing inspiration from personal heartbreak. The anti-rom com explores modern intimacy through music and emotional struggles.”
Gur wrote Earworm, which is a dark, queer anti-romcom play after the break-up of a relationship. The title references when you have a song that is stuck in your head, and you can’t stop hearing it.
Habanera After Dark is a bold and immersive evening of show tunes, opera, and theatre sprinkled with Burlesque. Blending iconic numbers from Carmen with musical theatre inspired by the spirit of classic cabaret, this fully staged production takes the audience on a seamless journey through love in all its forms – from the spark of first infatuation to the ache of heartbreak.
Performed by Izzy Benson, Amy Cash and Ariella Barnett, the performance unfolds around the audience. Passionate, daring, and emotionally rich, the show fuses opera with musical theatre to create something truly unique.
Actor Michael Cowan is playing the starring role in Pericles (kind of), a comedic musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s play at the Old Red Lion Theatre. For Michael, who has appeared in JW3’s Cinderella and the Matzo Ball, and is in a new Netflix series being released in 2027, his path to a career in acting has been a long one.
For the London-based BBC reporter and producer Michael, the pandemic proved to be truly life changing. “Although I enjoyed my job with the BBC it was not my first career choice,” he says. When the pandemic happened Mike was working in the North of England and moved in with his mother in the family home in Liverpool. It was while he was still working there that he saw there was a part-time acting course.
“I wondered if I would still like acting and out of curiosity enrolled on the course. And I absolutely loved it, and it made me realise this was the career I really wanted.”
Then fate stepped in when Mike heard that Newsnight, where he was a reporter and producer was offering redundancy packages to journalists. “I investigated and realised that the money I could receive would be enough to pay for me to live in Bristol and study at Bristol Old Vic Acting School. So I made the leap and applied for a place on a course in acting and moved to Bristol.
It was while he was on the course that this iteration of Shakespeare’s play Pericles was devised. “This Pericles is billed as a rapid untelling, retelling, mistelling of Shakespeare’s stormy story. The key tenets have been updated with a lot of the traditional narrative subverted to create a comedy musical retelling of the story.”
Traditionally, Pericles follows a wandering prince who flees an incestuous king. In this new telling however, Pericles has his work cut out for him keeping the story on track when other characters decide to see how far they can push a musical adaptation.
Baby Got Back is a show about performer Joe Leather who was chasing his dreams of an Edinburgh Fringe debut, when… ping! A herniated disc! Refusing to accept such a humble beginning, Joe rewrites history live onstage in his biographical show.
This is a musical comedy about ambition, bad timing and the absolute audacity of the human spine. It’s a show for anyone who’s ever thought “this is going to be my year…” then had to lie down for a while. Joe Leather blends musical comedy, puppetry and genre-bending storytelling in a show about pain, performance and the desperate human need to turn random suffering into a good tale (bone).
Camden Festival runs until until the 30 August. camdenfringe.com
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