In conversation: Larry Mollin

Larry Mollin talks to Judi Herman about his new play ‘The Screenwriter’s Daughter’

Larry Mollin talks to JR’s arts editor Judi Herman about his new play, The Screenwriter’s Daughter, charting the tempestuous relationship between Hollywood screenwriter Ben Hecht and his free-spirited daughter Jenny, who joins the radical New York Living Theatre in the 1960s against Hecht’s will. This rich and powerful Jewish writer was blacklisted in the UK in the 1940s and ’50s for his political activism, but he has also been recognised for his human rights efforts in creating public awareness of the Holocaust and furthering the cause of Jews around the world. His 120 screenplays include Gone with the Wind and Scarface, which won the first Oscar for Original Screenplay in 1927, and for Alfred Hitchcock he wrote a number of his best psycho-dramas, receiving his final Academy Award nomination for Notorious. His stage writing includes The Front Page, the sharp and witty comedy set in a newspaper office he co-wrote with Charles MacArthur (also filmed several times, including with Jack Lemmon and Walther Matthau).

The Screenwriter’s Daughter runs until Sunday 29 November. 7pm & 2pm, £15-£19.50, Leicester Square Theatre, 6 Leicester Place, WC2H 7BX; 020 7734 2222. www.leicestersquaretheatre.com

In conversation: Alon Nashman

Canadian actor Alon Nashman brings the world-famous Jewish writer – and his father – to vivid life in this acclaimed one-man play, as part of JW3’s Kafka Festival

© Cylla von Tiedeman

At age 36 Franz Kafka was still living at home, a petty bureaucrat, a failed artist, a timid Jewish son. Ruling and ruining his life was his overbearing father, Hermann. Kafka wrote a letter to his father in which he reveals deep connections between his life and his fiction. As he confesses, "All my writing was about you". Adapted from this monumental (and undelivered) letter, Kafka and Son is a blistering, often hilarious, dissection of domestic authority, starring Canadian actor Alon Nashman. Kafka and Son has toured Europe and now it returns to the UK as part of JW3’s Kafka Festival, 24 to 25 October. Judi Herman caught up with Alon Nashman when he performed his acclaimed one-man play in The Hague and after the performance he spoke to her for JR OutLoud.

Alon Nashman performs Kafka and Son on Saturday 24 October. 8pm. £10-£15. JW3, 341-351 Finchley Rd, NW3 6ET; 020 7433 8988. www.jw3.org.uk

Read Alon Nashman on his Kafka - along with writer/director/performer Steven Berkoff and novelist and critic Gabriel Josipovici - in the October 2015 issue of Jewish Renaissance.

In conversation: Julia Pascal

Julia Pascal talks about Crossing Jerusalem and her reasons for writing and reviving it

© Mia Hawk

Hear writer/director Julia Pascal speaking to JR's arts editor Judi Herman about her play and her reasons for writing it – and for reviving it now. (NB: Thanks to the tube strike this interview was recorded via Skype and is not of the finest quality, but hopefully rewards the patient and persistent listener!)

Crossing Jerusalem runs until Saturday 29 August. 7.45pm & 3.15pm. £12.50-£18. Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, N4 3JP; 020 7870 6876. parktheatre.co.uk

Read Judi Herman's review on the JR blog

In conversation: Danny Braverman

Danny Braverman, the man behind Wot? No Fish!! tells JR about his great-uncle's packet paintings

© Malwina Comoloveo

In 1926, shoemaker Ab Solomons drew a doodle on the wage-packet he gave to his wife Celie. Over the next 50-odd years Ab drew over 3,000. This extraordinary chronicle of East London Jewish life was originally brought to life by Ab's great-nephew and storyteller Danny Braverman in 2013 and continues to run successfully throughout theatres today.

Wot? No Fish!! runs Wednesday 5-Sunday 9 August & Wednesday 12-Sunday 16 August. 7.30pm. £17. Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, SE18XX; 020 7960 4200. southbankcentre.co.uk

In conversation: Ariella Eshed

5 Kilo Sugar director Ariella Eshed speaks to JR

© Shira-Klasmer

Hear Ariella Eshed, director of 5 Kilo Sugar, and cast members talking to JR's arts editor Judi Herman post-performance at London's Etcetera Theatre.

5 Kilo Sugar runs Friday 7 – Saturday 15 August. 10.25pm. £7-£9. theSpace on the Mile, Edinburgh EH1 1TH. www.tik-sho-ret.co.uk

In conversation: Daniella Isaacs and Ramzi DeHani

Two stars of Come In! Sit Down! come in and sit down with JR OutLoud for a chat about the show

Daniella Isaacs and Ramzi DeHani talk to JR's arts editor Judi Herman in the busy bar at the Tricycle after their performance.

Come In! Sit Down! runs until Sunday 2 August. 7.30pm & 3pm. £13. The Tricycle Theatre, 269 Kilburn High Rd, NW6 7JR; 020 7328 1000. tricycle.co.uk

In conversation: Jenna Augen and Ilan Goodman

Good shtick on Bad Jews from two of the stars of Joshua Harmon's hit comedy, Jenna Augen and Ilan Goodman

As Joshua Harmon's dangerous, yet funny debut play, Bad Jews, enjoys its third successful run – the second in London – at the Arts Theatre, Judi Herman caught up with cast members Jenna Augen (Daphna) and Ilan Goodman (Liam) to talk about battling it out live on stage.

Bad Jews runs until Saturday 30 May. 7.30pm & 2.30pm (Thu/Sat ony). £20-£49.50. Arts Theatre, Great Newport St, WC2H 7JB; 020 7836 8463. www.artstheatrewestend.co.uk

Read our review of Bad Jews. [link to blog]

In conversation: Brundibár cast

As Hans Krása’s concentration camp opera, Brundibár, prepares to show on the Watford Palace stage, Judi Herman caught a rehearsal and spoke to the cast

Mahogany Opera Group’s critically-acclaimed production of Hans Krása’s Brundibár – the 1938 short children’s opera famously performed in the World War II concentration camp Terezin (German Theresienstadt) – heads to Watford Palace Theatre this weekend. So Judi Herman sat in on a rehearsal and met with the director Frederic Wake-Walker, conductor Alice Farnham and two of the 40-odd talented children recruited for these performances; nine-year-old Erin Daniels, who plays Aninku and 14-year-old Ethan George, who plays her brother Pepíček. Brundibár the evil organ grinder thwarts them in their attempt to raise money by busking to buy milk for their sick mother – until some clever animals come to their aid, enlisting the help of the town’s children. It’s a story of the triumph of the poor and powerless over the big, strong and ruthless that resonated throughout the camp – which is just as powerful today.

Brundibár runs Saturday 18 – Sunday 19 April in Watford and Sunday 28 June in Norwich. 7pm (Sat), 3pm (Sun). £10, £8 children. Watford Palace Theatre, 20 Clarendon Rd, WD17 1JZ; 019 2323 5455. www.watfordpalacetheatre.co.uk 2pm. £10, £6 concs. Norwich Playhouse, NR3 1AB; 016 0359 8598. norwichplayhouse.co.uk

For more on Brundibár, read Judi Herman’s interview with Holocaust survivor Ela Weissberger, who created the role of the Cat in the original production in Terezin. [link to blog]

In conversation: Kerry Shale and Chris Neill

Judi Herman speaks to the cast of The 2000 Year Old Man and offers listeners a sneak preview of the show

As flagged up in the January 2015 issue of Jewish Renaissance, you can now listen to more of Kerry Shale talking to Judi Herman about performing his live stage recreation of Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner’s legendary double act, from the albums on which an interviewer questions a man who has seen the entire history of civilisation – and gives his replies in a thick Yiddish accent! You’ll also hear from Chris Neill, who will be ‘channelling’ interviewer Carl Reiner to Kerry’s Mel Brooks as the 2000 Year Old Man himself. We've also got a sneak preview of the show for you, with Kerry and Chris listening on cleverly concealed earbuds to Brooks and Reiner to reproduce their personas.

The 2000 Year Old Man runs from Monday 9 – Sunday 22 March. 8pm. £6.50-£12.50. JW3, 341-351 Finchley Rd, NW3 6ET; 020 7433 8988. www.jw3.org.uk