King of the Panto Nick Cassenbaum’s latest show is at JW3
Panto is quickly becoming a fixture of the Jewish calendar. (Oh, yes, it is!) And Nick Cassenbaum is a large part of the reason why
Pantos have been performed at JW3 for the previous two years and the concept is growing in popularity. This year’s performance, which opened this week, is Cinderella and the Matzo Ball. It is once again written by Nick Cassenbaum, who has penned the previous two.
The playwright told Jewish News that “it’s been fun writing something that feels really British and really Jewish at the same time.” He makes no bones about the target audience. “The show is the local pantomime for Jewish people within the M25.”
Cassenbaum’s star is rising, but the 37-year-old’s love of the fun and quirky side of theatre is long standing. He became “disillusioned” with traditional theatre in his student days but found great joy in street theatre. “I went off after uni and was a street performer for a year,” he recalls. Cassenbaum got into “doing outdoor theatre and clowning and things like that and there was something really exciting to me about… the democracy of it”. You can see how this would all lead to pantomime.
The playwright has more strings to his bow than festive frolics though. His latest work is the two-person play REVENGE: After the Levoyah. It has been on tour in South East England and will be at the legendary Soho Theatre in December and January.
Cassenbaum grew up in Woodford Green, and the comedy uses the world of Jewish Essex with which he is familiar as its base. It does though move into more madcap territory. The setting is very deliberate. Cassenbaum explains that “a lot of my work explores Jewish Essex and the kind of people you get there. Because I feel like actually there hasn’t been much of that within Jewish representation in media.”
He is also working on an equally brilliantly titled follow-up – Rebellion after the B’nai Mitzvahs.
As you can probably gather, Judaism and Jewish culture is important to Cassenbaum. ‘The one thing that I really enjoy doing with my work is sitting on that that kind of world affectionately poking fun and also bringing in,” he explains.
Although we have traditions such as the Purim spiel, Jews are not necessarily be associated with the Christmas tradition of panto. Nick Cassenbaum is changing that. “For me, [pantomime is] almost like a stress relief for the end of year,” he says. It is “a ritual where you go with your whole family and you can shout and laugh and scream and you know what’s going to come.”
Who needs that more than Jews right now?
Cinderella and the Matzo Ball is at JW3 until 4 January. jw3.org.uk
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.
