CULTURE
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In conversation: Deb Filler
As Kiwi comic and musician Deb Filler kicks off her London run this month, Judi Herman speaks to her about the moments that made her Comedian, actor and musician Deb Filler has had one hell of a life and career, much of which we discover in Cohen, Bernstein, Joni and Me. This latest show from the Jewish New Zealander –…
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Cohen, Bernstein, Joni and Me ★★★★★ — Jewish Renaissance
When she met Leonard Bernstein in 1974, and shared with him that her father had been in the audience at a concert he played for Holocaust survivors in Munich in 1948, he closed Auckland Town Hall to play a piano concerto just for her, that she got to watch from a seat in the dress circle designated by Bernstein, who…
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Holocaust Memorial Day 2026 events — Jewish Renaissance
Sunday 25 JanuaryHolocaust Memorial DayCommemorate Holocaust Memorial Day in an evening of discussion, poetry, music and reflection. Guests include speakers Tali Smus, who discusses life as a Jewish student in London, Rabbi Golker of Richmond Synagogue and Councillor Penny Frost, Mayor of Richmond upon Thames. Plus live music from Steve Levi of klezmer band Oi Va Voi.7pm. FREE. Richmond Synagogue,…
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Mazel tov to JR team members on the New Year Honours List — Jewish Renaissance
Long-standing members of the JR editorial board, Dr Bea Lewkowicz and Michael Mail, have been awarded honours by the King We are thrilled to have two long-standing editorial board members recognised on the King’s New Year Honours List. Dr Bea Lewkowicz, an oral historian, anthropologist, filmmaker and photographer, has been with JR from the early days and was awarded an…
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Indian Ink ★★★★ — Jewish Renaissance
Tom Stoppard’s time-hopping drama enjoys an evocative revival The sad passing of Tom Stoppard last month adds a particular poignancy to this revival of Indian Ink, his intriguing drama set in two different time periods. And it is a real joy that Felicity Kendal, who was in the original 1995 production, has returned, playing a different central character. She established…
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The Future of Holocaust Education — Jewish Renaissance
The breadth of participants testified to the research findings of Ben Barkow (former director of the Wiener Library) that “the field is large and diverse and able to support a wide range of approaches and levels of interest in the subject”, despite the shrinking of humanities and history provision in schools and universities. Barkow and others wondered why we expect…
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Christmas Day ★★★★ — Jewish Renaissance
Of course, given the season, a meal together is on the menu, albeit Chinese food out of takeaway boxes. But there’s also a more unsavoury subtext over the current situation in Israel/Palestine and the history behind it, including the inheritance of the Holocaust, which for Tamara includes second generation survivor’s guilt. The arrival of her ex-boyfriend Aaron (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd) adds…
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“I was in the audience at Stoppard’s 1967 London debut” — Jewish Renaissance
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are very much alive in my memories of unforgettable theatre, says Judi Herman, as she reflects on the first production by Tom Stoppard, who died last month Back in 1967, up in the cheap seats of the top gallery of London’s Old Vic Theatre, two excited teenage schoolgirls leant perilously over the rail, enthralled by the unfolding…
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Cinderella and the Matzo Ball ★★★★★ — Jewish Renaissance
Breadzinski (another play on a London stalwart, Grodzinski kosher bakery) is run by Cinderella and her sisters Milchig and Fleishig (Yiddish for meat and dairy, which mustn’t be mixed in a kosher kitchen). Rosie Yadid’s Milchig and Libby Liburd’s Fleishig are a terrific and terrifyingly OTT pair of harridans, scary visions in skintight, luridly-coloured leggings. Both delight in being mean…
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Desperate Journey ★★★ — Jewish Renaissance
Annabel Jankel’s new drama tells the true story of Freddie Knoller well, but struggles to truly encapsulate his survival throughout the Holocaust There are inherent difficulties in trying to adapt stories of Holocaust survival to the screen. Firstly, it is simply impossible for a film or television show to depict the sheer scale of the horror. Secondly, there’s always a…
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