REVIEW: The Holy Rosenbergs, Menier Chocolate Factory

The Menier Chocolate Factory is responsible for premiering some of the capital’s finest productions, which is why it remains so popular. But its bench seating? That requires a certain understanding. Keep within the allocated space as not doing so explains why, on Tuesday night, seconds before the lights went down, a member of the audience was still standing. With a spacious lounge suite already part of the set, we all knew what we were thinking. I bit my lip – and not for the only time that night.

So familiar is the set that anyone would be forgiven for feeling at home. It is every Jewish house you’ve ever visited: stacked hi-fi, extendable dining-room table, silver Judaica and family photographs. The photograph of Danny Rosenberg on a cabinet is in peripheral vision, but it is the emotional centre of Ryan Craig’s play.

Danny has been killed while serving in the IDF and the family, led by his father David Rosenberg (Nicholas Woodeson), a kosher caterer, gathers at home in Edgware on the eve of his memorial. What unfolds in the living room is a testing two hours on grief, loyalty and the fault lines that can run through Jewish families when Israel is the subject on the table.

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When it premiered at the National Theatre in 2011, Craig’s play was rooted in the aftermath of the 2008–2009 Gaza conflict. The playwright has reportedly “tinkered” with the script to bring this revival up to date. But has he?

The first act introduces the family. David, the befuddled father, worries about his failing catering business while trying to processes the loss of his older son and to steer younger son Jonny (Nitai Levi). As wife Lesley, Tracy-Ann Oberman brings warmth, steel and a maternal instinct fractured by grief. Cry, cope and carry on — that is what the bereaved must do.

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Only for the Rosenbergs it is more complicated, because their daughter Ruth (Dorothea Myer-Bennett), a human rights lawyer, is investigating alleged Israeli war crimes on behalf of the UN. That her own brother died fighting for the Jewish homeland has not thrown Ruth, of course – a decision that proves catastrophic for her family and for my increasingly chewed lip.

Some critics have suggested that Ruth is not entirely credible. I am not sure why. In the past two years we have seen many of our young people drink the anti-Israel Kool Aid, and if Zack Polanski had chosen law rather than hypnotism, he could very well be accusing Israel’s army of misconduct on behalf of the UN.

The arguments in favour of the investigation are made by Ruth’s boss Sir Stephen Crossley (Adrian Lukis) in Act Two. An impassioned human rights lawyer, he explains in the play (as Crossley did in real life) that the laws of war apply to every army, including democratic ones fighting terrorism. Examining allegations of civilian harm at the UN’s behest, he argues, strengthens democracies rather than weakens them, and such legal scrutiny should apply to all sides. Hamas included.
This is all very worthy. But it’s the sort of opinion formed in a comfortable chair rather than from the flight deck of an army helicopter, which is where Danny died.

We also know more now. Since Craig wrote the play, the UN and UNRWA – along with various aid charities – have been shown to be biased and terrifyingly to not only have been sympathisers but in some cases terrorists themselves. That reality is largely absent here, despite Craig having updated the script. Instead we hear the idealistic view shared by Ruth and her boss: that forensically examining Israel’s actions, but not those of jihadist groups is somehow the way to change the world. In other words: call out Israel and hope it appeases the rest.

There will be audience members who may agree with this. Others will feel they are simply hearing the same arguments repeated at countless Jewish dining tables, which for many is a reason to leave the room.

Though I’ve little time for human rights lawyers, there is a case for this conversation to be staged and delivered by excellent actors, particularly when a mother in the form of Tracy-Ann Oberman brings love into the room when everything else is turning to accusation.

There is a moment when the yahrzeit candle lit for Danny breaks. In Oberman’s hands it becomes more than a small accident but symbolises the shattering pain of bereaved parents everywhere. When she lit another candle to replace it, that was the moment I cried. I hope audiences beyond the Jewish community come to see the play and feel the same.

The Holy Rosenbergs is at the Menier Chocolate Factory until 2 May. menierchocolatefactory.com