CULTURE
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Goldie Frocks and the Bear Mitzvah ★★★★★ — Jewish Renaissance
An all-singing, all-dancing journey through London’s Jewish East End that’ll enthrall all ages Playwright Nick Cassenbaum presents JW3’s second annual family-friendly Jewish pantomime, putting a Yiddish twist on the classic story of Goldilocks. I was joined by my six-year-old son Taylor, watching seamstress Goldie Frocks (played by Heloise Lowenthal) on a mission to save Baby Behr (Frankie Thompson) from the…
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The Happiest Man on Earth ★★★★★
Kenneth Tigar honours the strength, determination and legacy of Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku, a man who repeatedly stared death in the face and laughed Eddie Jaku was born in Leipzig, Germany, in April 1920 and lived to see humanity at its most evil. He was imprisoned in four concentration camps, survived two death marches and lost both his parents to…
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Frank Auerbach 1931-2024 — Jewish Renaissance
To the end, Auerbach spoke and wrote very little about his profound experience of dislocation and loss. In his own words: “I think I did this thing, which psychiatrists frown on: I am in total denial. It’s worked very well for me.” Nevertheless, several commentators on his work have chosen to interpret his obsession in the immediate post-war era with…
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A Real Pain ★★★★ — Jewish Renaissance
Jesse Eisenberg’s directorial debut offers a captivating take on grief and inherited trauma Jewish generational trauma is not a subject that lends itself easily to cinema. It’s complex, ambiguous, unresolved and simultaneously relevant and irrelevant to modern Jewish life. It is, in a word, painful. Painful to think about, to talk about, to confront and to ignore. Into this mess…
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Lore Segal 1928-2024 — Jewish Renaissance
The Austro-American novelist has died aged 96 Lore Segal (née Groszmann) was born in Vienna in 1928, but grew up in England from the age of 10 after travelling on the first wave of Kindertransport trains to escape Nazi-annexed Austria. Her parents followed a few months later, but her father was interned on the Isle of Man, where he died…
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Midas Man ★★★ — Jewish Renaissance
Midas Man is at its strongest when it focuses on its central character. Fortune-Lloyd delivers a lovely performance, full of pathos and a sadness lingering behind his eyes. His portrayal of Brian is something of a tortured soul, burdened by a deep sense of loneliness resulting from his suppressed homosexuality. At the time, gay sex was illegal in Britain and…
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Gigi & Dar ★★★★ — Jewish Renaissance
The drama begins with rounds of firecracker banter from the guns’ owners, Gigi (Tanvi Virmani) and Dar (Lola Shalam), soldiers on the final few days of their military service at army roadblock 432. The location could be anywhere, but the bright lighting and sense of remoteness suggest it’s a desert. It’s impossible not to think of Israel and the current…
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What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank ★★★★ — Jewish Renaissance
There are so many standout moments in this extraordinary tapestry of a play. Shosh’s account of embracing observance is transfixing: she recounts how she revelled in the joy of Purim with the Rebezzin (rabbi’s wife) – who had dressed up for the festival as the colourful Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. And Trevor’s unceremonious pronouncing of a shift in faith to…
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Sculpting the 20th Century — Jewish Renaissance
Much of the work Kormis produced in Britain, along with all his large-scale pieces, was destroyed when his studio was bombed in 1940. It was a huge blow, but didn’t prevent him from continuing to create. “From 1949 he exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy summer exhibitions,” writes Ben Uri’s director of scholarship, Sarah MacDougall, in her essay The Handicaps…
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Giant ★★★★★ — Jewish Renaissance
Although Lithgow’s Dahl starts off relatively calm, there is always the threat that he will boil over without warning. The irritation and discomfort caused by the refurbishment may be the trigger: all too evident on designer Bob Crowley’s graphically chaotic set – a garden room with temporary plastic sheeting awaiting the installation of French windows looking out on the currently…
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