Jewish stars to perform newly-unearthed manuscript by Jack Rosenthal

Jewish A-listers are set to perform a recently unearthed manuscript of the last play written by the late Jack Rosenthal to raise money for a Jewish cancer charity.

Stars such as actress Maureen Lipman, comedian David Baddiel and author Howard Jacobson will perform the first ever showing of Rosenthal’s ‘Tell me on a Friday’ as part of the Chai Manchester Virtual Dinner on Thursday night.

The online event, which will be an online reading, is replacing the charity’s biannual fundraiser and will be especially poignant for Lipman, who was married to Rosenthal for 30 years until his death in 2004.

A prolific playwright, he wrote ‘Tell me on a Friday’ for Chai just 18 months before lost his battle with cancer. It will be streamed live on Facebook and YouTube and will be the first time it is seen by a wide audience.

Chai Cancer Care chair Louise Hager said she stumbled across the script during lockdown as she was clearing through her paperwork. “I immediately shared it with Maureen and we decided that it just had to be seen by as many people as possible.”

The play, although short, highlights the impact of a cancer diagnosis from five family members’ perspective and the support an organisation like Chai provides.

Lipman said the charity was “the most dynamic I have ever come across,” adding: “They give the best loving care for their clients. We have to keep their flame burning.”

• The ‘dinner’ will take place between 8-9pm and tickets for the online event are available at www.chaicancercare.org/virtualmanchester