What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank ★★★★ Marylebone Theatre | Jan 20 - Feb 15, 2025


Debbie and Shoshana were friends at school, but they later drifted apart, taking very different paths in adult life. Debbie and her husband, Phil, are now secular Jews living in Florida when they suddenly learn that they are going to be visited by the Hasidic Shoshana and her husband, Yerucham, who are visiting from Israel. Even before these visitors arrive, the combative liberal, Phil, masterfully played by Joshua Malina, is preparing to take on the unanticipated guests and their views. Indeed, as the play opens, wife Debbie (Caroline Catz) is commenting on his inappropriate shorts and warning him not to mention the war. However, no topics are off the table when the guests arrive. In a discussion peppered with zingers and fuelled by vodka and marijuana, Playwright Nathan Englander's characters debate faith, culture, politics, child-rearing and even what keeps them together as couples. This a no-holds-barred look at contemporary political issues, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and a highly critical examination of personal values. These subjects are addressed and wrapped up in a comic format which only slightly takes the edge off the sharp divisions between the two sides. The different conclusions of the two acts of the play almost reflect this dichotomy between the seriousness of the subjects treated and the comic conventions that they are packaged in, and for us, the conclusion of Act I was more apropos than the less abrasive, more conformist ending of the play. The night we saw the show Mercedes Bahleda did a fine job as Shoshana and Simon Yadoo was a suitably pompous Yerucham. And, as the rather feckless son of Phil and Debbie, Gabriel Howell, puts in a wonderfully credible performance, although his secondary role as narrator announcing the scenes of the play seemed both unnecessary and rather contrived. What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank has some bitingly funny lines and takes on some seriously divisive topics. This is theatre that will definitely give you something to talk about!

Rated: ★★★★

Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Mark Senior

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