REVIEW: What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank
Stellar performances and totally relatable topics make this new play at the The Marylebone Theatre a must-see
There’s a new play receiving five stars and stellar reviews across the board. And you may be surprised to know that it’s about two Jewish couples, one religious, the other secular, sitting round a table having a conversation.
You may think that you don’t need to go to a theatre to hear what they have to say, but What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank is a play that will make you think, that will draw you in, and surprise you – it may even make you examine your own thoughts.
Whatever your views, this beautifully observed, well-written, fact-based play, is a work of contrasts, not just in the difference between the religious and the secular, but also in skilfully using levity and seriousness to tell its multi-layered story. The four main characters seem so familiar – they are couples with whom so many of us can identify – and the performance, right up to its compelling final scene, engages its audience.
Starring Joshua Malina (of West Wing fame) and directed by multiple award-winning playwright, screenwriter and director Patrick Marber, What We Talk About When We Talk about Anne Frank is the latest play written by Nathan Englander and based on his Pulitzer-finalist short story. The action takes place when the two women, former friends, and their husbands, meet up for the first time after a separation of many decades.
Joshua, playing Phil, an irreligious Jewish lawyer from Miami, is joined on stage by Caroline Catz (Louisa in Doc Martin and DI Helen Morton in DCI Banks) playing his wife Debbie; Dorothea Myer-Bennett ( Leopoldstadt) and film and theatre star Simon Yadoo play the orthodox husband and wife.
For theatregoers it is an opportunity to see a faultless production, expertly directed and wonderfully acted – the fifth member of the cast, Gabriel Howell, equally excels in the role of Trevor the teenage son.
Beautifully crafted, the play touches on topics that are on the lips of so many Jewish people, post October 7th. Its title references Anne Frank but this is not a Holocaust performance, its far-reaching storyline encompasses many issues, both international and personal, from the conflict in Israel and Gaza to family relationships.
The Marylebone Theatre is a relatively new, off-West End venue but nonetheless it is staging some superb productions. Standout play of the year in 2023 was its award-winning White Factory and now, in it is showing another piece of outstanding theatre.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank is at the Marylebone Theatre, Rudolf Steiner House, 35 Park Rd, NW1 6XT, near Baker Street tube station. It is two hours long (including an interval) and the run is until November 23rd.
Tickets are priced from £12.50 and for Jewish News readers there is a special 20% discount on tickets for performances up to and including the matinee performance on 31 October. Quote code JEWISHNEWS20 when you book to apply the discount.
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