A thrilling account of how the East End battle in 1936 brought diverse communities together to fight the fascists
There’s an old truism that you wait for a bus and two come along at once. Well that seems to be the case with much-anticipated Jewish theatre this season. The Merchant of Venice 1936, with Tracy-Ann Oberman playing Shylock as a battling Jewish widow, continues its well-deserved triumph with a West End run. Now, an extraordinarily powerful and inspiring new musical takes its audience onto those same East End streets back in 1936 to witness The Battle of Cable Street, uniting the Jewish community with other locals from minority backgrounds to stand together against the violence and racial hatred of fascist leader Oswald Mosley and his followers.
Cable Street creators Alex Kanefsky (book) and Tim Gilvin (music and lyrics) were first brought together by a mutual friend who was aware they both had an idea for a musical about about the battle and they began to share ideas at a concert series curated by the show’s director, Adam Lenson. Now a cast of just 11 play multiple roles, singing and dancing up a storm of solidarity and protest, but also playing their fascist antagonists, switching roles with apparent ease, and minimal to no costume change, just a scarf here, a yarmulka (skull cap) or swastika armband there.
In an inspirational storytelling coup de théatre, the show opens in the present day, where the company are all involved in a walking tour of the East End, either as tourists or tour leaders. Shifting piles of battered boxes, shabby benches, tables and drawers (designer Yoav Segal) and lighting changes (Sam Waddington), plus some beautifully choreographed movements (Jevan-Howard Jones) are all it takes to transport us back to the 1930s to meet protagonists of different ages and backgrounds.
Although this is neither a battle of the sexes nor between the generations, the stories of three young people give it an urgency and freshness. Mairead (Sha Dessi), an Irish lass working hard at a Jewish bakery, is rather more than simply the object of the affections of two out-of-work youths, Jewish East Ender Sammy (Joshua Ginsberg) and Northerner Ron (Danny Colligan), who’s ventured south to make good, turning to the fascists in his disillusionment. Mairead is a passionate advocate for equality and social justice, more than capable of standing up to her often exasperated mother Kathleen (Debbie Chazen morphing effortlessly from Irish-American tourist in the present day, to her forebear, a hard-working Irish immigrant in the 1930s). Sammy’s family members, the Scheinbergs, devout Orthodox Jews, enrich the tapestry with their worship and chanting, which of course makes them the focus of the hatred of the 'Mosleyites'.
The music is wonderfully eclectic, embracing a Jewish vibe as well as both Irish folk melody (hard to resist singing along to ‘The Rocky Road to Dublin’) and a terrific ongoing rap from Ginsberg’s Sammy. The versatile cast are accomplished singers too; Sophia Ragavelas' Edie may depend on her son Ron, but her glorious singing voice belies her fragility. There is plenty of humour too, particularly in a rollicking number sung and danced by rival newspaper vendors touting The Times, Daily Mail, Socialist Worker and, of course, Jewish Chronicle.
Cable Street is a show that is all too timely, given the rise of antisemitism on our streets since the horrors of 7 October last year, but given that it vividly charts folk from different communities coming together to face down a potent threat so successfully, it’s also uplifting, defiant, optimistic and hugely entertaining.
By Judi Herman
Photos by Jane Hobson
Cable Street runs until Saturday 16 March. 7.30pm, 3pm (Tues & Sat only). £35, £28 concs. The Large, Southwark Playhouse, London, SE1 6BD. southwarkplayhouse.co.uk