In conversation: Ben Brown

“It was extraordinary that Himmler seemed to want to defend himself to a Jew, as if he was going to make Masur understand or sympathise”

The year is 1945 and playrwight Ben Brown takes us to the estate near Berlin, where Heinrich Himmler, architect of the Holocaust, meets in secret with a Swedish Jew and member of the World Jewish Congress, Norbert Masur. The meeting is at the instigation of the estate’s owmer, Himmler’s Finnish physiotherapist Dr Felix Kersten, who has persuaded Hitler’s deputy to come without the Führer’s knowledge, to bargain for his life as it becomes clear that Germany is losing the war. The stakes are high, the freeing of thousands of Jews from camps is the bargaining chip, and the 'night' whose end is in sight in Brown’s tense, eye-opening drama is World War II and the Holocaust. Listen as Judi Herman speaks to Brown about his vital source material – both Kersten’s memoirs and Masur’s account written immediately on his return to Stockholm – and his fascination with vividly reimagining vital moments in 20th-century history.

The End of the Night runs until Saturday 28 May. 7.30pm, 3pm (Thu & Sat only). £18.50-£32.50, £16.50-£23.50 concs. Park Theatre, N4 3JP. parktheatre.co.uk. An online screening of the production will be presented by award-winning Original Theatre, keep an eye on our listings pages for dates, which will be announced soon.

Read our review of The End of the Night on the JR blog.

In conversation: Josephine Burton

"We are working in a very cross-linguistic way, performing in Ukrainian and Russian, Yiddish and Hebrew, English and Roma!"

© Anna Pavliuk

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the massacre of more than 33,000 Jews by Nazi occupying forces in the ravine of Babyn Yar in the suburbs of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. The figures rose to more than 100,000 over the following two years of Nazi occupation. Songs for Babyn Yar marks this anniversary with a performance featuring three Ukrainian musicians – Yuriy Gurzhy, Svetlana Kundish and Mariana Sadovska – who have composed and arranged the music. Drawing on diverse voices, including survivors’ testimonies, traditional Yiddish and Ukrainian folk songs and poetry, they journey deep into 100 years of their country’s history to reveal forgotten stories and silenced songs. It is a new act of remembrance that also asks how to move forward from a tragedy that has never been fully commemorated. After a performance at JW3 on Sunday 21 November, it will tour to Ukraine and there are plans for further UK performances. Songs for Babyn Yar is directed by Josephine Burton, artistic director of Dash Arts, who spoke to JR’s arts editor Judi Herman about the story of the production and how it tells a powerful story.

Songs for Babyn Yar runs Sunday 21 November. 7.30pm. £15 (in-person), £5 (online only). JW3, NW3 6ET. 020 7433 8988. jw3.org.uk

In conversation: Peter Tate

“It is modern. There are mobile phones in it. When Shylock speaks to Tubal, it’s a phone call"

© Guy Bell

Many of us have seen The Merchant of Venice, perhaps Shakespeare’s most controversial play, featuring Shylock, the reviled Jewish moneylender. But now, theatre director Bill Alexander, who has directed the play several times to much acclaim, has created this “all-new modern-day adaptation”, set in what he calls the "blackly comic world of modern Venice", tellingly entitled A Merchant of Venice – did you spot the indefinite article?

In Alexander’s version which, he says, "focuses on just six key characters, their entangled loves, desires and fortunes", Peter Tate plays Shylock. He is also co-artistic director (with Anthony Biggs) of The Playground Theatre in west London. He spoke to JR’s arts editor Judi Herman about the loves, desires and fortunes of Shylock, and the joys and challenges of running one of London’s newest theatres, which is currently welcoming Shakespeare In Italy, the company behind the production, with its brief to take the works of Shakespeare to new audiences in exciting and interesting ways.

A Merchant of Venice runs until Saturday 4 December. 7.30pm, 2.30pm (Thu & Sat only). From £13.50. The Playground Theatre, W10 6RQ. theplaygroundtheatre.london

Read our review of A Merchant of Venice on the JR blog.

Little Amal is welcomed to London

“It was heart-stopping! It’s hard to remember she’s a puppet, she is so real and lifelike"

© David Levene

© David Levene

© David Levene

© David Levene

© David Levene

© David Levene

© David Levene

Since she set off in July, JR has been following the extraordinary journey across Europe of Little Amal, the giant puppet of a nine-year-old refugee girl. She is searching for her mother and, on the way, highlighting the plight of her fellow refugees. JR’s Judi Herman spoke to the theatremaker behind the project, David Lan in the Summer 2021 issue of JR, and has been looking forward to Little Amal’s arrival in the UK ever since. Last weekend she joined the crowds thronging the steps of St Paul’s, along with leaders of different faith communities, to welcome Little Amal to the capital, listen to the band and speak to members of the crowd, including Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, Sheikh Ibrahim Moghra and Rev Lucy Winkett of St James’s Church, Piccadilly.

Later, Herman caught up with Lan, who joined her via Zoom from Oxford, where Little Amal was due next, to meet a girl who equalled her in size – a huge puppet of Lewis Carroll’s Alice – there to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Alice Through the Looking Glass. But first join us on the steps of St Paul’s…

The Walk with Amal runs until Wednesday 3 November. Times, prices and venues vary. walkwithamal.org

Read our interview with David Lan in the Summer 2021 issue of JR and read more about The Walk with Amal on the JR blog.

In conversation: Josh Azouz

“I’m Sephardi-Jewish and it was interesting to find out about a WWII story seen through the eyes of a Jewish couple and a Muslim couple”

© Marc Brenner

Josh Azouz is a playwright whose work deservedly draws in audiences. His last play, The Mikvah Project, set in the Jewish ritual bath of the title, intrigued audiences last year (pre-pandemic). Now his Sephardi background and his interest in Jewish/Muslim relations are among the inspirations that sent him on a revealing journey of discovery for his latest play, Once Upon a Time in Nazi-Occupied Tunisia. Azouz speaks to JR’s arts editor Judi Herman about this new play and more, from his years singing in the choir at Lauderdale Road Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue, to how time spent training at Philippe Gaulier Clown School in Paris proved useful for this dark tragicomedy.

Once Upon a Time in Nazi-Occupied Tunisia runs until Saturday 18 September. 7.30pm, 2.30pm (Sat & Wed only). £10-£43.50. Almeida Theatre, N1 1TA. 020 7359 4404. almeida.co.uk

Read our review of the show on the JR blog.

In conversation: Victor Esses

"I grew up in a very Jewish religious Sephardi community in Brazil – our history is so embedded in migration, it exemplifies the Jewish identity"

What makes a home for you? Victor Esses answers this very personal question in Where to Belong, a one-man multimedia show that shares his exploration of his own rich identity as Jewish-Lebanese, Brazilian, gay and, as a result of the Lebanese crisis of 1975, a second-generation refugee. As the show takes on a poignant topicality in the current refugee crisis, Esses speaks to JR’s arts editor Judi Herman about how he discovered more about himself and his heritage to make this poignant show, which includes storytelling, music, photographs and – thanks to video – a moving appearance by his mother.

Where to Belong tours Friday 3 September – Thursday 14 October, stopping in London (3 Sep); Oxford (7 Sep); Harlow (9 Sep); Bedford (18 Sep); Cardiff (23 Sep); and Manchester (14 Oct). For times and prices see JR listings or visit victoresses.com/wheretobelongtour.

In conversation: Stephen Laughton

"I spoke to people who have been hospitalised in attacks that came from a place of hate"

Stephen Laughton’s play One Jewish Boy, which enjoyed a sold-out run at Islington’s Old Red Lion Theatre, has now transferred to London’s West End. Laughton discusses with JR Arts Editor Judi Herman how he has welcomed the chance to develop this moving two-hander, which explores a young family’s struggle against fear, prejudice and the identity inheritances that haunt us. He also expands on how he's updated a play originally written from a place of genuine fear and as an urgent response to overt antisemitism – of which he himself has been the target – in light of the acceleration of hate crime incidents in the UK and elsewhere.

One Jewish Boy runs until Saturday 4 April. 7.45pm, 3pm (Sat only). £20-£47.50. Trafalgar Studios, SW1A 2DY. https://trafalgar-studios.com

Also listen to our interview with Robert Neumark-Jones (who plays Jesse) and read our 2020 review of One Jewish Boy.

In conversation: Peter Kavanagh

“It’s a document of two cultures in complete opposite gyres interacting, of the clash and the rich things that come out of it”

In Paul Kember’s award-winning comedy drama Not Quite Jerusalem, four young Brits flee grim divided London of the late 1970s for Israel, in search of sun and fun on a kibbutz working holiday. Except it turns out to be more hard work than holiday under the blistering Middle East sun. There's conflict, alienation and resolution, and at least one love story in store, as they get to know their kibbutznik hosts. The show broke box office records at the Royal Court Theatre, where it premiered in 1980 and revived in 1982. Now it’s the choice of Finborough Theatre to celebrate the 40th anniversary of both the theatre and the play. In a brief break from final rehearsals, director Peter Kavanagh spoke to JR’s Arts Editor Judi Herman about the play and about the UK and Israel – then and now.

Not Quite Jerusalem runs until Saturday 28 March. 7.30pm, 3pm (Sat & Sun only). £18-£20, £16-£18 concs. Finborough Theatre, SW10 9ED. www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk

Read our review of Not Quite Jerusalem on the JR blog.

In conversation: Blitz! cast Danniella Schindler & Jessica Martin

"It’s irrelevant that our family is Jewish, we’re all the same, stuck in that shelter; we all muddle in regardless of religion or race"

Danniella Schindler (left) and Jessica Martin (right)

Lionel Bart’s musical Blitz! is currently enjoying a well-deserved revival at London’s Union Theatre. This is Bart’s autobiographical love letter to the East End where he grew up, in which he pays tribute to the wartime spirit of the Londoners who lived through Hitler’s devastating aerial bombardment of the capital. JR’s Arts Editor Judi Herman spoke to Jessica Martin, who plays the indomitable Jewish matriarch Mrs Blitzstein (based on Bart’s own mother) and Danniella Schindler, who plays her eldest daughter Rachel Finklestein.

Blitz! runs until Saturday 7 March. 7.30pm, 2.30pm (Sat & Sun only). £22, £20 concs, £15 under-18s. Union Theatre, SE1 0LR. www.uniontheatre.biz

Read our review of Blitz! on the JR blog.

'Our Hotel' sung by the Blitz! cast at The Theatre Cafe, London. Featuring Rosa Lennox (on accordion), Jessica Martin, Eleanor Griffiths and Caitlin Anderson.

In conversation: Scott Schwartz

“The burning bush is our entire ensemble; and they sing the voice of God so it’s many voices in one”

As The Prince of Egypt – the new musical based on the blockbuster film – opens in London, director Scott Schwartz took time out of rehearsals to talk to Judi Herman about what is essentially the story of Exodus. Two young men, raised together as brothers in a kingdom of privilege, find themselves suddenly divided by a secret past. One (Ramses) must rule as Pharaoh, the other (Moses) must rise up and free his true people, the Hebrews, and lead them out of Egypt. Scott elaborates on themes of the show and their relevance today, discusses the vision of the creative team, and reveals what it’s like working your father – in this case, three-time Academy Award-winner Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Godspell). Stephen has written 10 new songs for the show, including the love duet, ‘Never in a Million Years’, sung by Luke Brady (Moses) and Christine Allado (Tzipporah).

On her way out, Judi also stopped off at the costume department to gain fascinating further insight from one of the assistant costume supervisors, Lydia McDonald, who talked through some of the stunning design sketches by Ann Hould-Ward, as well as the materials and trims that go into the making.

The Prince of Egypt runs until Saturday 31 October. 7.30pm, 2.30pm (Thu & Sat only). From £19.50. Dominion Theatre, W1T 7AQ. www.theprinceofegyptmusical.com

Read our review of The Prince of Egypt on the JR blog.