For decades, the Rosenbergs have made their money in kosher catering, building up a supposedly loyal clientele in North West London which kept their business ticking over nicely – until someone died suddenly of what initially appeared to be food poisoning. It wasn't, but the incident proved disastrous and ever since David and his wife Lesley have struggled to keep afloat.
Younger son Jonny has no intention of following in his father's footsteps – he just wants to set up a gambling website. Now their elder son has been killed fighting for the Israeli Defence Forces, and their daughter (Susannah Wise's Ruth) is home for the funeral. She's a lawyer working on a UN fact-finding mission on war crimes in Gaza and her presence is far from welcome in the eyes of many in the local Jewish community.
Playwright Ryan Craig owes an obvious debt to Arthur Miller's Death of A Salesman and All My Sons and, though not in the same league, his new play still makes for interesting viewing with its
portrayal of loyalties put to the test.
There's some clunky plotting (which Laurie Sansom's well-acted production in the round can't quite hide) but there's real humanity here, too – especially in Henry Goodman's proud patriarch David (still making big plans with the odds stacked against him, and caught between a last chance to salvage his business and love for a daughter whose career choice he can't understand) and in Tilly Tremayne's Lesley, doing everything a good Jewish wife should but very nearly at the end of her tether.
Younger son Jonny has no intention of following in his father's footsteps – he just wants to set up a gambling website. Now their elder son has been killed fighting for the Israeli Defence Forces, and their daughter (Susannah Wise's Ruth) is home for the funeral. She's a lawyer working on a UN fact-finding mission on war crimes in Gaza and her presence is far from welcome in the eyes of many in the local Jewish community.
Playwright Ryan Craig owes an obvious debt to Arthur Miller's Death of A Salesman and All My Sons and, though not in the same league, his new play still makes for interesting viewing with its
portrayal of loyalties put to the test.
There's some clunky plotting (which Laurie Sansom's well-acted production in the round can't quite hide) but there's real humanity here, too – especially in Henry Goodman's proud patriarch David (still making big plans with the odds stacked against him, and caught between a last chance to salvage his business and love for a daughter whose career choice he can't understand) and in Tilly Tremayne's Lesley, doing everything a good Jewish wife should but very nearly at the end of her tether.
Cottesloe
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