‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: The West End cast. Photo: Johan Persson

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
Book by Joseph Stein
Music by Jerry Bock
Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
Based on the Sholem Aleciheim stories
Directed by Trevor Nunn
Choreographed by Matthew Cole
Originally directed & choreographed by Jerome Robbins
Playhouse Theatre
Northumberland Avenue
London WC2N 5DE
https://fiddlerwestend.com/

By David NouNou

I am one of the few remaining people (still alive to talk about it) who saw the original version of Fiddler On the Roof in September 1964 when it opened with the one and only Zero Mostel. I can honestly say that I had no real sense of what the show actually meant, why the critics raved about it at the time or it’s universality. It lacked the razzle-dazzle of the musicals I was accustomed to like Hello, Dolly or Funny Girl. However, it did touch on a nerve that this musical, like no other, was about my Jewish heritage and the customs I was used to since birth.

Since then, I have been yearning to see a production that would explain to me its universality and adoration from its admirers. Of course, I knew the score by heart and its songs have been sung by every major artist of the day. There is the gritty 1971 film version with the over-the-top performance by Topol. Countless revivals on Broadway and elsewhere: one with Topol even more over-the-top in 1991, the misguided 2004 version with a miscast Alfred Molina, and the abysmal 2016 version with Danny Burstein. When my editor asked me to review this version in London, I was hesitant because I’ve seen so many disappointing revivals, but I went anyway and am so glad I did. Lo and behold, here is the “miracle of miracles,” that revival I have been yearning for since childhood.

You might ask yourself what makes this version so special? I’ll tell you in two names: Trevor Nunn, the director and Robert Jones, the set designer. What they have done is captured the heart and soul of the village of Anatevka. Most directors and designers create the set in an abstract form or representational, this is mostly to cut corners and they know the audience is familiar with the material and will use their imagination to fill in the rest, thus robbing the audience of the full immersive experience. Robert Jones has created the best conceivable set, capturing the essence of Anatevka, a small claustrophobic village where everyone knows each other’s business. He built the homes around the village square where everyone congregates and then goes to their homes. After all, Anatevka is this tiny village in early 1900s Tsarist Russian-controlled Ukraine, and it was a tiny dot on the map and now gone. In that village lived an array of put-upon, downtrodden people but they always seemed to be hoping for the best.

The story centers on Tevye (Andy Nyman), a poor milkman who lives in Anatevka. He has five unmarried daughters, a shrewish wife, Golde (Tania Newton), a lame horse and has a penchant to talking to God about his misfortunes. The one thing that has kept Anatevka going for all these years is tradition (no one knows how these traditions started, but they exist) and Tevye has to watch each tradition that he holds sacred unravel. Therein lies the beauty and texture of the family dynamics and Tevye’s turmoil of upholding his covenant with God and his religious beliefs, versus his love for his daughters having to watch his three eldest daughters marrying in nontraditional ways especially when his third daughter, Chava, marries the Russian Orthodox Christian soldier, Feyedka.

In Andy Nyman you will not be getting a bombastic, “bigger than life,” argumentative Teyve. You’ll be getting a sweet interpretation of a man who speaks to God in a gentle manner and gingerly admonishes God about couldn’t He just once throw him a little extra his way as in the song “If I Were A Rich Man”? What he lacks in being bigger than life, he makes up for with his rendition of his songs. He has a remarkable voice and his interpretation of “Tradition” and “Chavaleh (Little Bird)” is flawless and heart wrenching.

Unfortunately Judy Kuhn finished her run as Golde the week before we saw the show. At the performance we saw, Tania Newton brilliantly played Golde. Ms. Newton’s portrayal of Golde is the quintessential earth mother. Tevye’s Daughters: Tzeitel, (Molly Osborne), Hodel (Harriet Bunton) and Chava (Nicola Brown) are all a constant delight with their angelic voices. Broadway and Olivier Award-winning West End veteran Maria Friedman has now taken over the role of Golde.

Now, let’s discuss the second man who worked on this glorious production, director Trevor Nunn. With the aid of set designer Robert Jones, they brought to life this miracle village with its glorious characters: Lazar Wolf, the butcher (Dermot Canavan), Motel (Joshua Gannon), a tailor who wants to marry Tzeitel, Tevye’s oldest daughter. Perchik (Stewart Clarke), a revolutionary student who wants to marry Hodel and of course, Yenta, the matchmaker (Louise Gold). Where in previous presentations, these characters became caricatures; in this environment they are real, breathing souls from the past. The recreation of the marriage scene between Motel and Tzeitel, where the entire cast sings “Sunrise Sunset” under the chuppah tied to the four corner wooden posts had me in tears; it was exactly the same as my marriage to my partner of 16 years in 2017, presided over by a female rabbi (I’m sure that would have been a most unconventional tradition). Nothing will prepare you for the finale of the heartbreaking rendition of the song “Anatevka” started by Tevye and filing in a member or two at a time of the cast carrying their meager belongings, as they are now singing of their beloved village which they are being ousted from; and how precious this village was to them at one time. As the entire cast engulfs the village square singing their village anthem with just voices and no musical accompaniment, their voices ascend to a musical gut-wrenching crescendo.

It is at that moment you see all the joys and heartaches of life merging into one. After 55 years of waiting, I have finally seen the definitive revival of Fiddler on the Roof. L’Chaim!

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published June 25, 2019
Reviewed at performance in London on June 13, 2019

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: Dermot Canavan & Andy Nyman. Photo: Johan Persson

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: (left to right) Harriet Bunton, Nicola Brown & Molly Osbourne. Photo: Johan Persson

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’: Dermot Canavan & Andy Nyman. Photo: Johan Persson

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‘THE KITE RUNNER”: David Ahmad & Andrei Costin. Photo: Irina Chira

THE KITE RUNNER
Adapted by Matthew Spangler
Based on the best-selling novel by Khaled Hosseini
Directed by Giles Croft
Through August 26, 2017
Playhouse Theatre
Northumberland Avenue
London, WC2N 5DE United Kingdom
44 844 871 7631, http://thekiterunnerplay.com/

By David NouNou

LONDON–Not having read the 2003 novel The Kite Runner but having seen the 2007 movie, I remember enjoying it but didn’t think much about it after the film ended. So I came to this show with an indifferent attitude as it was my last show to see and review in London on this current visit. Seldom does a play come along that grabs you by your heart, feelings, emotions and humanity, one so powerful and effective that it could possibly stay with you forever. Such a play is The Kite Runner. I am so obsessed by it that I am still haunted and mesmerized by it.

The play starts modestly with a simple backdrop scene that changes with the situations. In comes a musician (Hanif Khan) playing the tabla (a pair of small drums fundamental to Hindustani music) in a pulsating rhythm, evoking various moods that will unfold. In walks Amir (David Ahmad), narrator and character. He lives in the Bay Area of San Francisco now and starts his monologue and I’m paraphrasing “There are things from your past you want to bury inside you and never want to think of them again, but there are always claws that will pull them out again.” So Amir thinks back to 1975 in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he lived in an estate with his father/Baba, (Emilio Doorgasingh) who is a Pashtun (upper class). His mother died during child birth, so he lived with his Baba’s devoted manservant of 40 years Ali (Ezra Faroque Khan) and his son, Hassan (Andrei Costin). Ali and Hassan are Hazaras (lower-class descendants of Ghengis Khan, Monguls who invaded the country) Amir and Hassan grew up together and were the best of friends and did everything that boys do together at that age. They lived like brothers in the household. Amir states that his first word was Baba, and Hassan’s first word was Amir. In that split second, it is a knife that stabs the heart and the play swallows you whole.

Hassan is devoted to Amir, heart and soul. Hassan loved to be read to and Amir complied. They both loved to fly kites. Amir did the flying, and Hassan found and brought back the defeated kites as the spoils. They also enjoyed going to the movies together. Their favorite genre was Westerns. Hassan especially wanted to meet John Wayne because he spoke Farsi in the movie Rio Bravo. Baba had to explain to him that John Wayne didn’t really speak Farsi but was dubbed. So on his 12th birthday, Hassan got a cowboy hat from Baba, starting a tear in the relationship. Amir never understood why Baba was so attentive to Hassan and so passive to him. Being a Hazara, Hassan was always picked on and beaten by the town bully, Assef (Bhavin Bhatt). Amir watched and never intervened but Hassan stilled loved Amir unconditionally.

On a particular day of the big kite fight, Amir had to prove his worth to his father by winning the kite fight by cutting them all down, and he succeeds and gets that admiration from Baba for a while. The big prize here for victory was the blue kite that belonged to Assef, and Hassan went to get it for Amir. Upon retrieving it, Hassan is accosted by Assef and his gang. Upon not relinquishing the kite, Hassan is brutally sodomized. While searching for Hassan, Amir witnesses the brutality and denies any knowledge of what happened to Hassan. Hassan’s love still isn’t diminished.

Through his own guilt of not coming to Hassan’s defense, Amir becomes belligerent to him and beats him up in the hope of wanting Hassan to stand up for himself and retaliate, but that doesn’t work, sending Amir further down the spiral of hating Hassan. When Amir tells his father he wants Ali and Hassan thrown out of the house, Baba goes ballistic on him and to never repeat such words. The final injustice comes on Amir’s birthday, where he gets a Rolex watch and money from his family as presents. Amir takes the watch and money and puts them under Hassan’s mattress. Amir accuses Hassan of stealing his presents, Hassan is known for his honesty, and when he is brought in front of Baba, Ali and Amir to explain, he admits he stole the presents. As Ali and Hassan prepare to leave Baba’s household, the grief for Baba is untenable, and a sobbing Baba pleads to Ali not to leave that all is forgiven. However, Ali considers his honor and they depart. Baba mourning his loss and Amir has to deal with his heinous guilt for the rest of his life.

Ultimately Kabul’s government monarchy is overthrown, Baba gives up his land and properties and flees to Pakistan and then America to San Francisco. He has to start all over. Amir meets Soraya (Lisa Zahra) and marries her. All seems well, when Amir gets a phone call from Rahim Khan, (Karl Seth), the claw of the past that resurfaces. Rahim is Baba’s former business partner from Kabul who was always fond of Amir and tells him he has to come to Kabul because Rahim Khan knows of the guilt and crimes that both he and Baba had committed to Ali and Hassan. If he ever wants peace and redemption in his life again, he has to fulfill his mission.

The immediate comparison one can reach is the biblical Cain and Abel story. However, this tale is so multifaceted, it is not only about brotherly love and hatred, it is about the sins of the father, guilt, jealousy, pride, friendship, devotion, new roots, class distinctions, a country’s religious sects and conflicts, salvation, humanity, faith and ultimately redemption. Never have so many issues been captured as a theatre piece in a single show and done with such conviction and passion. The dialogue flows so eloquently and touchingly that you just can’t shake it off once you leave the theatre. It stays with you, and that is the ultimate reward of a theatrical experience.

The performances by all were universally excellent. Giles Croft, the director, working with such a complicated tale, makes each scene flow seamlessly. The minimal sets just add to and heighten the imagination of what we are visualizing.

I can honestly say that my three favorite plays since 2000 are: War Horse, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and The Kite Runner. While War Horse and Curious Incident are theatrical masterpiece events, The Kite Runner is a masterpiece of life.

I really hope that this show will make its way to America/Broadway. I hope that a visionary and enterprising and not a greedy producer will bring this show to New York not for the profits it may generate for him but to thrill audiences witnessing a new masterpiece. There is so much bigotry and hatred generated by our current administration that I would hope it would not have a negative impact on the show. This isn’t about Muslims/Afghanistan vs. the USA; it is about life, inner turmoil within a country, how people cope with their lives, some change it, some lose it. It is about hope, salvation, humanity and redemption for all of us.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published July 3, 2017
Reviewed at June 25, 2017 performance in London

‘THE KITE RUNNER’: (left to right) Emilio Doorgasingh, Ezra Faroque Khan & Andrei Costin. Photo: Irina Chira

‘THE KITE RUNNER’: Bhavin Bhatt & David Ahmad. Photo: Irina Chira

‘THE KITE RUNNER’: The cast in the wedding scene. Photo: Irina Chira

‘THE KITE RUNNER’: Andrei Costin. Photo: Irina Chia

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