Bad Jews

This engrossing production of Bad Jews is played out on a charming set, designed by Jacob Battista, of a tiny apartment that feels part pressure cooker part fish bowl.  It is a studio apartment in New York, New York with a bathroom that overlooks the Hudson River.  Four characters, three of whom who have been rendered emotionally raw from the grief of their grandfather’s recent demise, interact through the malaise of a kind of fraught cabin fever. 

This production by the Vass Theatre Group is stunning.  And it is the perfect chance to catch a great show at the inspiring Alex Theatre -Fitzroy Street in St Kilda.

Who would have thought that cinemas could be such spectacularly acoustically successful and comfortable venues for live theatre!

Bad Jews is marvelously successful work from American writer Joshua Harmon.  It has received many productions on both sides of the Atlantic.  But this lauded script is not without its flaws.  As a situation comedy the set up is credible and the insights sharp and often hysterically funny in their truthfulness.

All characters have issues.  Two of the grandchildren are highly competitive and the other inclined to put his head in the sand to avoid conflict.  The granddaughter, Daphna, played with acute cultural insight by Maria Angelico is a difficult, domineering and manipulative character, apparently not unlike her grandmother.   Harmon has drawn her as such a harridan that delight is inspired in the audience when her cousin Liam, played by Simon Cornfield mercilessly attempts to bring her down.  There is a brutality in this area of the script, towards a female character, that is disconcerting.    

I didn’t locate an ultimate take home message in the story.  The Grandfather who had experienced devastating loss in his life and achieved an amazing feat of survival in the death camps sadly did not pass on a sense unifying generosity to his grandchildren who compete hysterically for his very precious and religiously significant ‘chai’ pendent. 

Although the situation of losing a Grandfather is universal and not culturally specific, this work is very Jewish and fascinatingly so.  I wonder if a bi-lingual approach in the writing could offer the audience to a richer sense of inclusion into a rarefied culture.  (I realize that I am thinking this because of the fluid use of Yiddish in Malthouse’s recent discussion/production on the Dybbuk that made no apologies for expecting the audience to find ways into the pervading ethos.)    

Garry Abrahams draws unique and robust work out of his uniformly capable actors.  Though every now and again there seems to be a bit of divergence in styles and at times a slight clash between naturalism and a more heightened (possibly American) theatrical style.   I wish he would give Matt Whitty’s character Jonah a guitar to a least strum a few chords on to further define his character as evasive observer.

Engaging and absorbing Theatre that should tour brilliantly – totally worth catching if it comes to Theatre near you!

Suzanne Sandow

Tour Details

Sydney Seymour Centre May 18th to June 4^th, 2016

Brisbane QPAC Cremorne Theatre July 12th to 31^st. 016

Regal Theatre Perth - August 9th to 14^th, 2016

David Spicer adds his thoughts after seeing it in Sydney.

When you first see the title Bad Jews it can cause a little jarring. Having endured thousands of years of persecution how could someone get away with a play with a name like that?  What next Protocols of the Elders of Zion The Musical?

Soon the penny drops. This is a comedy written in the Jewish haven (heaven) of New York, where Jewish humour is so ingrained and celebrated that a production can safely focus on less flattering personality traits of the community and get away with it, indeed thrive.

The play squeezes siblings, a cousin and a girlfriend into a small apartment the night of their grandfather's funeral.

The notion of who is a good or a bad Jew is explored with claustrophobic intensity. There is bad behaviour from some, and also debate about whether Jews who more closely follow reglious rituals are more authentic than the less pious.

As it happens no-one in this cast is Jewish. One of the leads confessed to me afterwards that he is it not even circumcised. Being of the circumcised variety, I must applaud the authenticity of the performance.

At times the dialogue rattles along at a million miles an hour.  Maria Angelico (Daphna) and Simon Cornfield (Liam) mastered their hilarious outbursts. There was a rhythm and clarity that deserved an ovation.

Thankfully the issue at the source of anti-semetic smears was left out. The central conflict in this family inheritance drama is not about money, but rather a family heirloom with enormous sentimental value only.

The character who is perhaps stereotyped is the non Jew - Melody - played sublimely by Anna Burgess. Who says blondes have a lower IQ than the rest of the population?

One act plays can make me restless. But this ninety minute one act drama moves quickly. I laughed out loud at what is an absolute cracker of a production.