An effective and affecting musical charting the meeting and melting points of a Jewish couple over a period of years
From the moment the lights go up on a woman tossing her long curly locks as she passionately sweeps the keys of a piano, a young man leaning intently over her, the atmosphere in the room is heightened. There is a sense, an anticipation, that anything might happen…
Indeed, Debs and Jonathan are a couple as mutually attracted as they are opposed. Their beliefs and practices are at odds and they come at their Jewish faith from differing perspectives. Jonathan seems able to take it or leave it - it’s enough for him that he was born Jewish. Debs, however, seems to feel both confined and defined by the strictures, laws and customs of her faith, her Jewish inheritance.
The coup de théâtre of playwright Francesca Rose’s vision is how this dichotomy actually means they are travelling in opposite (and unexpected) directions. She has been brought up in a strictly observant family and, while he tries to meet her half way by embracing the Jewish learning of the title - immersing himself in strict religious practices in the most observant of Orthodox communities - he fails to notice her frustrations, which are leading her to the verge of rejecting the faith’s restrictions and teachings.
The intimate story is told by the multi-talented pair of performers, Gemma Franco and Nick Delvallé, who sing like angels and dance up a storm. Franco is often at the keys of the onstage piano, playing music she has composed, arranged and produced for the show. How much is played live and how much fills the room through technical production hardly matters; it is of course all perfectly balanced - thanks no doubt in large part to the ‘intermedia performance’ skills of artistic director Dr Sharon Reshef Armony.
Another inspired idea in the writing is to have both Franco and Delvallé playing the roles of the counsellors to whom each turns as their relationship threatens to break down. It has flared into fury on Debs’ side and to Jonathan’s consternation, when he appears in tsitsit (fringed Jewish garment) and kippah.
Additionally, as their respective counsellors are not Jewish, they must ask questions about religious practices and the meaning of Hebrew and Yiddish used by their patients. This plot line doubles as a wonderfully useful device for anyone unfamiliar with the faith and Yiddishisms. I even recognised one of my own favourite settings of the ‘Mechalkeil’ (part of the daily prayer) in the music played by Franco right at the get-go of this beautiful operetta. Learning truly lives up to its title.
By Judi Herman
Learning runs until Sunday 16 February. 7.30pm, 4pm (Sun only). £22. Upstairs at the Gatehouse, N6 4BD. upstairsatthegatehouse.com