London, New York and back again – Nick Cassenbaum doesn’t sit still
The playwright/actor is performing in two of his shows before he works on the Chanukah panto for JW3
This year is proving to be a busy one for Jewish playwright Nick Cassenbaum.
Hot on the heels of his widely acclaimed play Revenge – After the Levoyah, Nick will be performing Machloket for one night only at the Royal Court Theatre on 13 March.
Nick and fellow theatre maker Tash Hyman have been touring the length and breadth of the UK to discover diverse Jewish communities. Machloket is the culmination of these travels, a live show sharing the fascinating stories they have unearthed when talking to everyone from ex-Egyptian refugees to a Queer Talmud Study group.
The event, which is free and includes a free community meal, is proving immensely popular, so booking is essential.
Then Nick is flying to New York to reprise one of his most popular plays, Bubble- schmeisis, a semi autobiographical play about a young Jewish man’s coming of age experience.
A decade on from its premier, Nick is performing the play for one final time.
“I decided that I have now really have come of age,” he explained. “I’m now married with a child of my own and feel I want to do just one last tour of the performance of the show.”
Nick will be performing in New York in March then returns to London where theatregoers can see Bubble-schmeisis at Soho Theatre.
A playwright who turns to his Jewish roots for inspiration, Bubble-schmeisis is about Nick’s trip to the Canning Town Turkish baths with his grandfather. A one- man show starring Nick and featuring two klezmer musicians is very much an ode to the Jewish East End and the Ashkenazi bathing tradition.
“I feel very connected to my heritage” explains Nick. “East End Jewry has an identity of its own and there are some wonderful characters and personalities, the like of which we will not see again. I don’t want London to lose this legacy. So much of our culture has changed – even the humble beigel has, thanks to the influence of Jewish New York, become a bagel.”
Bubble-schmeisis starts with Nick and his grandfather driving from Stanmore to the baths. As they pass along the route, landmarks invoke memories and stories that come together to create the performance.
For readers who don’t know about the ritual of the Jewish schvitz, it was a tradition for many men on Saturdays, rather than going to the synagogue, to go the schvitz – the baths – where everyone would know everyone. A community – a microcosm of Jewish life – it was a friendship group of larger-than-life characters, a place where everyone would put the world to rights.
Although the play has a Jewish theme it attracts both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences. Nick is particularly pleased that his last performance will be at Soho Theatre because, prior to becoming a theatre, the building was home to the Dean Street Synagogue.
He is happy that he can still enjoy the company of his grandfather, now in his 80s, and reminisce about a Jewish world that is fast disappearing.
And when he finishes the run of Bubble-schmeisis Nick will be turning to the next task in hand – writing this year’s Jewish panto to be staged at JW3 in December.
Machloket is at Royal Court Theatre om 13 March royalcourttheatre.com
Bubble-schmeisis is at Soho Theatre 6 – 10 May. Age 14+ sohotheatre.com
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