What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank
Formed as a unique presentation close to a Tarantino movie, What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank is an impressive debate about Jewish Identity particularly in 2024.
As a non-Jewish reviewer, there was the occasional quip I missed which most of the room belly laughed over. While clearly this means it was funny or a good point, there was a sense of alienation that only Jewish people would understand one hundred percent of the script.
However, this does not deter from the impressive writing by Nathan Englander who manages to put religious Jews living in Israel in a room with culturally-identifying Jews and let them debate "Being Jewish" and what that means.
Covering topics of marriage, drugs, family, history, the past, the future, the holocaust and yes, even the genocide in Gaza, Englander does not hold back and seems willing to put anything onto the table for discussion. Quite literally, as the entire play takes place inside a large Floridian kitchen.
Spanning the whole stage at The Marylebone Theatre, set designer Anna Fleischle created a beautiful marblesque kitchen which exudes American vanity. Alongside being a practical location to hold their table talk, it also was well informed by the script as conversation covered how large their American house was despite only having one child.
Joshua Malina who played an antagonistic liberal American was phenomenal with his comedic timing and sarcastic tone. With his role in the conversation as the "Jew by heritage", he served as an instigator for a lot of the hard hitting topics of conversation and assisted in guiding those of us in the audience who might not be so familiar with certain traditions.
His opponent was Simon Yadoo who lived with his wife Dorothea Myer-Bennett in Israel as devoted religious Jews. As defenders of their religious beliefs and heritage, and as inhabitants of the holy land, Yadoo held the role impressively despite coming up against difficult topics.
Dorothea Myer-Bennett stunned the audience in a pivotal speech about how she was disconnected from her faith when she was younger but then discovered how she wanted to live life as a Jewish woman. This was helped by the beautiful lighting design by Sally Ferguson that was subtle and delicate throughout the entire show, perfectly highlighting the right moments.
Serving as a form of narrator or guide was Gabriel Howell who's presence on stage was minimal but stage presence impeccable. Howell has the troublesome task of being the American born Jewish by heritage college kid who doesn't identify as Jewish. Bringing to the table topics of generational trauma, climate change and religious choice, he navigated these ideas and a slightly stereotypically written character with ease.
A disappointment was the tropes forced into the play such as the college kid hiding drugs from his parents and the adults having to be drunk to have open and honest conversations. This notion of needing to be intoxicated to have healthy and transparent communication with others is something that is becoming frighteningly more common in theatre. Particularly after the rise in substance abuse from the trauma of lockdown and COVID, a post-pandemic society should not be encouraged to participate in excessive intake of these substances as a means of therapy.
Ultimately, as most debates go, the conclusion is left open having provided lots of information on both sides. I found both sides were represented equally and highlighted the positives and negatives that come with any religious or cultural differences people may have.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank is at its heart a comedy but it is much more than that. It is a light-hearted therapy providing enough tension to not be certain how a conversation will go and enough humour to feel comfortable listening to both sides of the debate.
Despite not knowing enough about Judaism to understand every one liner, this doesn't overly detract from this being a must see show for this generation. With a world that is scarily looking to repeat the past, theatre like this holds a mirror to our society as humans and says "Think about it. What is in our common best interest?". For everyone.
This show was reviewed on the 14th October 2024 at the Marylebone Theatre, London where it runs until the 23rd November 2024. For details of the show please visit: What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank at Marylebone Theatre
Review written by Ryan Lenney
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Photo credit: Mark Senior
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