CULTURE
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Other world on the South Bank
With a major exhibition by Anish Kapoor running at London’s Hayward Gallery, we speak to the artist about his Mumbai heritage, the horror of the Venice ghetto and the role of art in troubled times Possibly I’m in the Hayward Gallery on London’s South Bank, but it could equally be that I’ve just walked onto the set of 1970s-vintage Doctor…
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A new blue plaque for London — Jewish Renaissance
Pushkin Press works extensively to support Zweig’s reputation in the English-speaking world, reissuing and newly translating his archive, and now holds the writer’s estate. Pushkin publisher Adam Freudenheim relates the resurgence in interest in Zweig to his “nostalgic look at the multi-linguistic and multi-cultural world of pre-World War I Austria-Hungary” that holds a particular interest post-Brexit. However, Freudenheim argues, foremost…
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Allegra ★★★★★ — Jewish Renaissance
Enter Anna, a young Czech woman and prospective carer, who shares a love of show tunes. When she turns up at the door, Allegra answers in full evening dress, set off by a huge straw hat with red ribbons. Elizabeth Bower’s Anna is at once tactful and forthright, fun and practical. The two women hit it off and are soon…
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A new JCC for Wales — Jewish Renaissance
When the synagogue was founded, Merthyr Tydfil was the largest town in Wales and the Jewish population numbered 400. Today, there is no recorded community. “The building represents a shared heritage – both Jewish and Welsh,” said Stephen Goldman, chair of the project’s steering committee. “[It reflects] the story of a particular community that made its own distinct contribution to…
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The Freud Museum turns 40 — Jewish Renaissance
The Freud family fled Austria as refugees in June 1938, three months after Hitler annexed the country. Only after Anna faced Gestapo interrogation was her father finally persuaded to leave Vienna – the coat in which he left is on permanent display at the house – and the family escaped to London, settling in Hampstead at 20 Maresfield Gardens. Anna,…
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Hit Machine ★★★★
Sibling rivalry taking centre stage is music to the ears in Jonathan Caren’s account of two brothers pursuing careers – and each other – in the rock music industry As I took my seat next to one of an impressive number of young men in the audience, I wondered why this show had attracted them. The twenty-something young man sitting…
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Photos evoke the East End on the cusp of change — Jewish Renaissance
Stencl guided Shloimy around the run-down streets of what he called his “shtetl in Britain” pointing out landmarks, such as the place where the Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem had once stayed. Unlike Cheetham Hill, the former Jewish area of Manchester where Shloimy had grown up, the East End was still buzzing with Jewish businesses and activity and many of the…
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“A total fantasy of fun and colour, unlike anything else” — Jewish Renaissance
“My parents were Yiddish-speaking Galitzianer Polish Jews who had been living in Berlin and escaped to London in the nick of time. My mother arrived in June 1939 and my father, who had been hiding in Berlin since November ’38, arrived in August ’39. We lived in the heart of the docklands and the Yiddish-speaking centre of Stepney. Our rented…
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Hero or Villain? ★★★★★ — Jewish Renaissance
Steve Furst single-handedly takes on a variety of personas throughout the 200-year history of one of literature’s most controversial characters Dubbed ‘The Jew’ 269 times in Charles Dickens’ original book of Oliver Twist, Fagin has since been perceived as a dangerous villain. In this two-hour analysis, which was written, directed and performed by Steve Furst, the audience embarks on a…
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Top tips for this year’s Fringe — Jewish Renaissance
Max Olesker: Making the Cut Comedian, journalist and formerly Britain’s youngest pro wrestler Max Olesker reveals how one night in Edinburgh kickstarted an unexpected existential crisis. After meeting the love of his life, Eliana, Olesker discovered that, despite already being Jewish, he would have to convert to Judaism if he wished to marry her. Adapted from his recently published memoir,…
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