Bad Jews
by
Joshua Harmon
Jews
Behaving Badly
There's
a scene in Sleepers with Woody Allen (born Allen Koenigsberg) visiting an
outfitters' emporium in a dystopian future - with robots programmed to play out the roles of stereotypical Jewish tailors.
TLT
and her convertible were reminded of this take on Jewish identity after
motoring along to the Theatre Royal Haymarket for Joshua Harmon's dark comedy
Bad Jews which has already completed a couple of successful runs in Bath and
London before going on tour and returning to the capital.
The
self-conscious twenty something grandchildren of a Holocaust survivor cram into
a New York studio apartment overlooking the Hudson River following his funeral.
Long-held
resentments erupt in an almighty battle between two of the cousins for
possession of the gold "Chai" (meaning "life") pendant
belonging to their "Poppy" which he had kept hidden while in a Second
World War concentration camp, apparently under his tongue.
Bad
Jews tackles troublesome matters within the framework of a farce. While
religion has clearly shaped their lives, the economic and gender divide proves
just as important a catalyst for the Titanic struggle between born-again Jew
Daphna (Ailsa Joy), a clever Vassar student, and her more secular wealthier
cousins, Liam (Ilan Goodman), her main adversary with blonde non Jewish
girlfriend Melody (Antonia Kinlay) in tow, and Jonah "I don't want
to get involved" Haber (Jos Slovick).
The
play has a schematic feel with some obvious comedy set-ups. But it's a speedy
and engaging no-interval 100 minutes with plenty of scorching below-the-belt
dialogue and a subtle historical subtext for a post credit crunch generation
cut adrift in modern globalized America and the world.
Director
Michael Longhurst keeps the action moving in the apartment and the corridor in
an evocative set designed by Richard Kent and manages the broadstroke comedy
without sacrificing the underlying seriousness and knotty issues.
If
the play itself is sometimes as self-conscious as the generation it portrays,
there are scattergun visceral moments of insight, especially when Daphna is
obviously fighting as much as a woman told to shut up as for her side of the
family and her place in the world.
An
amber/green
light for a fast-moving, if sometimes flawed, thought-provoking piece.
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