‘PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC’: (left to right) Molly Ranson, Nael Nacer & Aria Shahghasemi. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC
By Joshua Harmon
Through March 3, 2024
Directed by David Cromer
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47^th Street
www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com
 

By Scott Harrah

Antisemitism unfortunately became a worldwide crisis in the wake of the Israel-Gaza conflict when the terrorist group Hamas broke the ceasefire with Israel on October 7, 2023 by attacking the Jewish state in a one-day massacre that is to date the worst slaughter of Jewish people since the Holocaust. However, hatred and violence aimed at Jewish people was a problem long before Joshua Harmon wrote Prayer for the French Republic, a three-hour epic about a French Jewish family’s centuries-long battle with antisemitism. The show was first mounted Off-Broadway in 2022, nearly two years before the current Israel-Hamas war began. Now on Broadway, the play is more timely, topical and all too real—one of the best dramas in at least a decade.

The story unfolds in a Paris apartment as Marcelle Salomon Benhamou (Betsy Aidem) is chatting with Molly (Molly Ranson), a distant American cousin visiting France on a study abroad program. She tells Molly about their convoluted family tree and how the Salomon family has been in France for centuries, with a renowned piano business on Rue du Faubourg Montmartre, run by Marcelle’s octogenarian father, Pierre (Richard Masur). As a secular American, Molly feels almost no connection to her Jewish roots. Marcelle discusses the Salomon family’s Jewish roots and many tragedies—some living through the Nazi occupation of France while others had the misfortune of living in Poland and Russia and were killed in concentration camps. Marcelle and her brother Patrick (Anthony Edwards) grew up with a Jewish father and a Catholic mother. She explains that her brother Patrick is mostly secular. Although Marcelle wasn’t orthodox, she is married to Charles Benhamou, a devout Sephardic man who grew up in French Algeria in the colonial era but had to leave once Algeria gained independence in 1962 because the country was no longer safe for Jews. Marcelle is a psychiatrist and has two grown children who still live at home, including son Daniel (Aria Shahghasemi), a math teacher who proudly wears a yarmulke at all times. Daughter Elodie (Francis Benhamou) is a lost soul but has strong opinions on Zionism and her Jewish identity.

When the rest of the Benhamou family arrives home, we see that Daniel has a bloody face and has been beaten in an antisemitic attack. Marcelle feels Daniel has made himself a target and could avoid violence by simply wearing a baseball cap to cover up his yarmulke.

The story is also told via flashbacks. Although most of the play takes place in 2016/2017,  there are flashback scenes to 1944 when Patrick and Marcelle’s great-grandparents Adolphe Salomon (Daniel Oreskes) and Irma Salomon (Nancy Robinette) are living in hiding in Paris during the Nazi occupation—having miraculously eluded the Gestapo. They are running the family piano store while they wait patiently for their son and grandson to return from a concentration camp.

The play begins in 2016 when Donald Trump was running for president of the United States, and right-wing nationalist candidate Marine LePen was running for president in France one year later in 2017. The Benhamou family believes LePen may eventually become president and Jews in France will be in grave danger as a result. Much of the play deals with Charles (Nael Nacer), a successful physician with a thriving practice, and his desire to move the entire family to Israel because he believes France is no longer a safe country for Jews. Marcelle has spent her whole life in France and does not wish to leave her aging father behind, but as antisemitic incidents in Paris continue to be on the rise, she is left with a tough choice.

Although the play has some true flaws and is long and rambling in parts, playwright Joshua Harmon’s tale is always fascinating and is must-see theatre for anyone. Director David Cromer keeps the action flowing at a rapid-fire pace, but should have done some tighter editing in act three. There are some amazing performances here as the cast works together as a cohesive ensemble.  Standouts include Nael Nacer and his gripping portrayal of Charles, the husband and father who will do anything to keep his family safe and is willing to risk everything to relocate to Israel. Molly Ranson does a fine job playing the show’s most unlikeable character Molly, the naïve, misinformed American cousin who knows almost nothing about Judaism and dismisses her roots as simply being “of Jewish extraction.” Ms. Ranson isn’t afraid to portray Molly as a clueless yet gutsy twentysomething who speaks her mind, even when her comments are inappropriate. The play’s best performance is given by Francis Benhamou as Elodie, an angry misanthrope who steals the show when she tells off Molly with her vitriolic rant about “ahistorical” young people who don’t read and get all their historical information from social media.

Anyone in America—especially New York City—who has Jewish friends or family knows these are some of the darkest days Jews have experienced since World War II. Perhaps that is why Prayer for the French Republic is so sobering and truth-telling right now, at a time when the very existence of Jewish people is being maligned by misinformed media and a growing faction of bigots on college campuses and social media. This is as epic as another Jewish stage saga, Stefano Massini’s The Lehman Trilogy; and as emotionally volatile and searing as Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County. Yet it has an urgent message that most plays do not: Jewish people in 2024 are afraid and feel nowhere is safe; not France, Europe, America, Israel—or anywhere.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published January 9, 2024
Reviewed at January 5, 2024 press performance.

‘PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC’: Betsy Aidem & Molly Ranson. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC’: Molly Ranson & Francis Benhamou. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC’: Aria Shahghasemi & Molly Ranson. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC’: Nancy Robinette, Daniel Oreskes, Richard Masur, Ari Brand & Ethan Haberfield. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

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‘KNOCK KNOCK’: Niv Petel. Photo: Tai Kwun Centre for Arts & Heritage, Hong Kong

Special Event Review

KNOCK KNOCK
Written & Performed by Niv Petel
Artistic Advisor: Maia Levy
Set & Costume Designer: Rhiannon White
Original Light Design by Oliver Bush
United Solo Festival on Theatre Row
410 West 42nd Street
(212-239-6200), www.unitedsolo.org
http://www.knockknockplay.co.uk/

By Scott Harrah

Israeli performer Niv Petel’s one-man show Knock Knock is a provocative depiction of what a parent experiences raising a child in Israel, a country with mandatory military service starting at age 18. Mr. Petel performed the show in New York on November 12^th as part of the 2018 United Solo Theatre Festival before continuing on to Philadelphia.

The show opens with Mr. Petel humming a haunting, eerie tune while via expressive mime, pretends to be a soldier sewing himself up. It is a jarring opening to the show but sets the grim tone for a sober subject: The reality of any parent raising a child in Israel, knowing that, because of compulsory service, all children can die once they reach 18 and go into combat.

Mr. Petel portrays Ilana, an army liaison officer. He faces the audience as Illana, as if we are her son, Elad. We see Illana act out through mime, dialogue, props like hats and sunglasses and simple lighting, the early days of Elad’s life. To portray Elad as a baby, Mr. Petel has a towel wrapped up cleverly to look like an infant.

In this world where every child is destined to be a soldier, Illana is a metaphor for most Israeli parents. The story focuses on Elad’s life as a baby up until he is old enough for combat. We see Illana’s frustration about the inevitable as Mr. Petel performs numerous short physical sequences. Although it’s not always clear what he is doing—with his fluid body movements and staccato sound effects—he is like an ebullient Middle Eastern version of the late Robin Williams.

Some of the most powerful, moving scenes involve Ilana making a video call to Elad when he is finally away serving and she is unable to reach him. The horror on Illana’s face is heartbreaking.

The title Knock Knock refers to the job Illana has in the military. She must knock on the doors of parents and inform them that their child has been killed in combat. For a solo show actor as gifted as Mr. Petel, it is truly a treat seeing him act out Illana and Elad and hearing all his own sound effects. He’s often like a human jukebox, able to replicate different types of music and sounds.

Expository narrative is needed to bond with the audience because it is such an intimate experience. Some spoken background information might make the show more accessible to U.S. audiences because most Americans are unfamiliar with how the Israeli military works and may not know all the political details of what it is like to live in Israel, a country in which Illana says people either learn to live with the fighting or “in spite of it.”

Knock Knock ultimately has a universal theme that has nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It shows what parents of all nationalities, ethnicities and religions experience when their child is either sent off to war or placed in some type of danger.

Published November 16, 2018
Reviewed at November 12, 2018 performance.

‘KNOCK KNOCK’: Niv Petel. Photo: Chris Gardner

‘KNOCK KNOCK’: Niv Petel. Photo:Tai Kwun Centre for Arts & Heritage, Hong Kong

‘KNOCK KNOCK’: Niv Petel. Photo: Tai Kwun Centre for Arts & Heritage, Hong Kong

‘KNOCK KNOCK’: Niv Petel. Photo: Tai Kwun Centre for Arts & Heritage, Hong Kong

‘KNOCK KNOCK’: Niv Petel. Photo: Tai Kwun Centre for Arts & Heritage, Hong Kong

‘KNOCK KNOCK’: Niv Petel. Photo: Tai Kwun Centre for Arts & Heritage, Hong Kong

‘KNOCK KNOCK’: Niv Petel. Photo: Tai Kwun Centre for Arts & Heritage, Hong Kong

The post ‘Knock Knock’: A child & the military in Israel appeared first on StageZine.