In conversation: Josephine Burton

"We are working in a very cross-linguistic way, performing in Ukrainian and Russian, Yiddish and Hebrew, English and Roma!"

© Anna Pavliuk

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the massacre of more than 33,000 Jews by Nazi occupying forces in the ravine of Babyn Yar in the suburbs of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. The figures rose to more than 100,000 over the following two years of Nazi occupation. Songs for Babyn Yar marks this anniversary with a performance featuring three Ukrainian musicians – Yuriy Gurzhy, Svetlana Kundish and Mariana Sadovska – who have composed and arranged the music. Drawing on diverse voices, including survivors’ testimonies, traditional Yiddish and Ukrainian folk songs and poetry, they journey deep into 100 years of their country’s history to reveal forgotten stories and silenced songs. It is a new act of remembrance that also asks how to move forward from a tragedy that has never been fully commemorated. After a performance at JW3 on Sunday 21 November, it will tour to Ukraine and there are plans for further UK performances. Songs for Babyn Yar is directed by Josephine Burton, artistic director of Dash Arts, who spoke to JR’s arts editor Judi Herman about the story of the production and how it tells a powerful story.

Songs for Babyn Yar runs Sunday 21 November. 7.30pm. £15 (in-person), £5 (online only). JW3, NW3 6ET. 020 7433 8988. jw3.org.uk

In conversation: Peter Tate

“It is modern. There are mobile phones in it. When Shylock speaks to Tubal, it’s a phone call"

© Guy Bell

Many of us have seen The Merchant of Venice, perhaps Shakespeare’s most controversial play, featuring Shylock, the reviled Jewish moneylender. But now, theatre director Bill Alexander, who has directed the play several times to much acclaim, has created this “all-new modern-day adaptation”, set in what he calls the "blackly comic world of modern Venice", tellingly entitled A Merchant of Venice – did you spot the indefinite article?

In Alexander’s version which, he says, "focuses on just six key characters, their entangled loves, desires and fortunes", Peter Tate plays Shylock. He is also co-artistic director (with Anthony Biggs) of The Playground Theatre in west London. He spoke to JR’s arts editor Judi Herman about the loves, desires and fortunes of Shylock, and the joys and challenges of running one of London’s newest theatres, which is currently welcoming Shakespeare In Italy, the company behind the production, with its brief to take the works of Shakespeare to new audiences in exciting and interesting ways.

A Merchant of Venice runs until Saturday 4 December. 7.30pm, 2.30pm (Thu & Sat only). From £13.50. The Playground Theatre, W10 6RQ. theplaygroundtheatre.london

Read our review of A Merchant of Venice on the JR blog.

In conversation: Alice Hamilton

“There’s exploration of power struggles, partnership, betrayal… but fundamentally it’s about the dynamic between these two men”

L-R: Shane Zaza, Alice Hamilton, Alec Newman © Helen Maybanks

Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter, which had its premiere in 1960 at Hampstead Theatre as part of the theatre’s opening season, bears the signature hallmarks of the ‘Pinteresque’. An atmosphere of menace builds around Ben and Gus, two hitmen holed up in a basement, jockeying for position as they await instructions for their imminent next job; meanwhile they receive strange messages via the dumb waiter.

This early masterpiece from Pinter was last seen in London as part Jamie Lloyd’s ‘Pinter at the Pinter’ season in 2018. This 60th anniversary stand-alone production is directed by Alice Hamilton and stars Alec Newman and Shane Zaza as Ben and Gus. Hamilton spoke to JR’s Arts Editor Judi Herman about the challenges and fascination of working with Pinter, including the new resonances this drama has about being trapped.

The Dumb Waiter runs Monday 4 – Saturday 30 January 2021. 7.30pm, 2.30pm (Thu & Sat only). £18-£37, £20-£25 seniors (matinees only), £10-£15 students/under-30s. Hampstead Theatre, NW3 3EU. hampsteadtheatre.com/the-dumb-waiter

Read our review of The Dumb Waiter on the JR blog.

In conversation: Noemie Lopian

"I want to teach people about humanity, my passion is to educate, to prevent extremism"

Noemie Lopian is the daughter of Holocaust survivors Dr Ernst Israel Bornstein and Renee Bornstein. Noemie was brought up first in Germany and then from the age of 13 in Manchester, England. The mother of four daughters, she qualified as a GP and for the last few years has dedicated her time to educating and commemorating the Holocaust, continuing the legacy of her parents. She has translated her late father Ernst’s memoirs into a book called The Long Night, the story of his sufferings as a teenager in a series of concentration camps, which has featured on TV, in print and as an animation. Her mother shared with her only more recently the story of her terrifying childhood experiences trying to evade the Nazis occupying her native France.

Now Noemie is also able to tell Renee's story in an extraordinarily immediate way, thanks to broadcaster and lawyer Robert Rinder, whose new two-part documentary for the BBC helps Jewish families discover the full truth about what happened to their relatives during the Holocaust. Part one of My Family, the Holocaust and Me, which features both Noemie and her mother Renee, airs tonight, the 82nd anniversary of Kristallnacht. Noemie tells JR’s Judi Herman more about what drives her in her inspirational work – and what happened when she and her mother went to France.

My Family, the Holocaust and Me with Robert Rinder airs Monday 9 & Monday 16 November. 9pm. FREE. BBC One & ONLINE. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000pbwk

Find out more about Noemie Lopian’s work at holocaustmatters.org

In conversation: Michael Etherton

"You see it up close and you see the emotional input the guys put in to get the sounds you hear"

With their live performances cancelled, members of Mosaic Voices (New West End Synagogue’s resident choir) have been working hard to continue to bring you their unique music. Released earlier during the pandemic are four music videos written and recorded at various stages of the lockdown, featuring Yiddish lullaby ‘Rozhinkes mit Mandlen’, an ‘Over the Rainbow' rendition of the hymn ‘Adon Olam’, a lively ‘Yism'chu’, and a musical setting of Psalm 23 ('The Lord is My Shepherd'). All pieces were either composed or arranged by Benjamin Till, composer in residence. Whether they are arranged for singing a capella or with instrumental accompaniment, they all have in common just a small ensemble of voices. The group's founder and musical director, Michael Etherton, spoke to JR's arts editor Judi Herman about the making of these beautiful, inspiring and life enhancing musical films.

English translation of the original Yiddish ‘Rozhinkes mit Mandlen’:
In the Temple,
In a corner of a room,
Sits the widowed daughter of Zion, alone.
She rocks her only son, Yidele, to sleep
With a sweet lullaby.
Ai-lu-lu

Under Yidele's cradle
Stands a small white goat.
The goat travelled to sell his wares
This will be Yidele's calling, too.
Trading in raisins and almonds.
Sleep, Yidele, sleep.

Since the interview, Mosaic Voices have released more videos, including 'Shomer Yisrael' ('Guardian of Israel'), 'Avinu Malkeinu' ('Our Father, Our King') and 'Feed the Birds', from Mary Poppins. All videos are available to watch on their YouTube channel.

In conversation: The Matzoh Boys

"The beauty of the simcha dance is everyone feels it, no matter what age you are"

London-based simcha band The Matzoh Boys have created a “virtual simcha dance“, so people in the community can still enjoy a dance to their favourite simcha tunes at home during lockdown. JR’s Arts Editor Judi Herman found herself on her feet dancing as soon as she clicked on the link to their wonderfully life-affirming video. So she got in touch with vocalist Jonny (pictured centre) and trumpeter Jake (pictured fourth from right) to talk about the band, their music, how they made their video “in the safety of their homes” and how they were doing in lockdown.

Be part of the on-screen joy!
With the virtual simcha dance video, The Matzoh Boys wanted to recreate the joyous feeling people get while dancing to uplifting music, so they have a special request: they’re asking people to share videos of them dancing on social media using the hashtag #MatzohBoysVirtualSimcha.

This is the first in a short series of podcasts about life-affirming music to enjoy at this time. To find out more about The Matzoh Boys, visit matzohboys.com.

In conversation: Steve Waters

“By keeping it quite individualised and quite localised that helped me not to get lost in the geopolitics”

This week sees the start of Steve Waters’ Miriam & Youssef, a podcast and radio drama series for BBC World Service, charting the turbulent decades leading up to the founding of Israel. The playwright spoke to JR's Arts Editor Judi Herman about the ambitious project, which is told from the viewpoints of two former neighbours: Miriam, a Jewish refugee who emigrates to Palestine, and Youssef, a Palestinian Arab. Set between 1917 and the foundation of the state of Israel in 1948, their lives are intertwined with real historical characters and events. The series co-stars Shani Erez as Miriam and Amir el Masry as Youssef. Listeners may remember hearing Israeli actor Erez speaking to Judi last year, when she played Shylock as a proud widow and mother in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s hugely successful reimagining of The Merchant of Venice for schoolchildren.

At the heart of Waters' ambitious project is the city of Jerusalem, seen during the three decades of the British Mandate. The drama also features real-life figures, including David Ben-Gurion, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and American intellectual Rabbi Judah Magnes, whose lives intersect with the core fictional characters.

Episode one of Miriam & Youssef is available now on BBC World Service.

In conversation: Stephen Laughton

"I spoke to people who have been hospitalised in attacks that came from a place of hate"

Stephen Laughton’s play One Jewish Boy, which enjoyed a sold-out run at Islington’s Old Red Lion Theatre, has now transferred to London’s West End. Laughton discusses with JR Arts Editor Judi Herman how he has welcomed the chance to develop this moving two-hander, which explores a young family’s struggle against fear, prejudice and the identity inheritances that haunt us. He also expands on how he's updated a play originally written from a place of genuine fear and as an urgent response to overt antisemitism – of which he himself has been the target – in light of the acceleration of hate crime incidents in the UK and elsewhere.

One Jewish Boy runs until Saturday 4 April. 7.45pm, 3pm (Sat only). £20-£47.50. Trafalgar Studios, SW1A 2DY. https://trafalgar-studios.com

Also listen to our interview with Robert Neumark-Jones (who plays Jesse) and read our 2020 review of One Jewish Boy.

In conversation: Peter Kavanagh

“It’s a document of two cultures in complete opposite gyres interacting, of the clash and the rich things that come out of it”

In Paul Kember’s award-winning comedy drama Not Quite Jerusalem, four young Brits flee grim divided London of the late 1970s for Israel, in search of sun and fun on a kibbutz working holiday. Except it turns out to be more hard work than holiday under the blistering Middle East sun. There's conflict, alienation and resolution, and at least one love story in store, as they get to know their kibbutznik hosts. The show broke box office records at the Royal Court Theatre, where it premiered in 1980 and revived in 1982. Now it’s the choice of Finborough Theatre to celebrate the 40th anniversary of both the theatre and the play. In a brief break from final rehearsals, director Peter Kavanagh spoke to JR’s Arts Editor Judi Herman about the play and about the UK and Israel – then and now.

Not Quite Jerusalem runs until Saturday 28 March. 7.30pm, 3pm (Sat & Sun only). £18-£20, £16-£18 concs. Finborough Theatre, SW10 9ED. www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk

Read our review of Not Quite Jerusalem on the JR blog.

In conversation: Blitz! cast Danniella Schindler & Jessica Martin

"It’s irrelevant that our family is Jewish, we’re all the same, stuck in that shelter; we all muddle in regardless of religion or race"

Danniella Schindler (left) and Jessica Martin (right)

Lionel Bart’s musical Blitz! is currently enjoying a well-deserved revival at London’s Union Theatre. This is Bart’s autobiographical love letter to the East End where he grew up, in which he pays tribute to the wartime spirit of the Londoners who lived through Hitler’s devastating aerial bombardment of the capital. JR’s Arts Editor Judi Herman spoke to Jessica Martin, who plays the indomitable Jewish matriarch Mrs Blitzstein (based on Bart’s own mother) and Danniella Schindler, who plays her eldest daughter Rachel Finklestein.

Blitz! runs until Saturday 7 March. 7.30pm, 2.30pm (Sat & Sun only). £22, £20 concs, £15 under-18s. Union Theatre, SE1 0LR. www.uniontheatre.biz

Read our review of Blitz! on the JR blog.

'Our Hotel' sung by the Blitz! cast at The Theatre Cafe, London. Featuring Rosa Lennox (on accordion), Jessica Martin, Eleanor Griffiths and Caitlin Anderson.