THEATRE
Written by Elise Esther Hearst with Phillip Kavanagh
After Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol
By Melbourne Theatre Company
At The Sumner, Southbank Theatre until 16 December 2023
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
Stars: **1/2
This review is published only on this blog. I’ll present a radio review on Arts Weekly on 3MBS on Sat 25 Nov 2023. KH
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| Evelyn Krape-A-Very-Jewish-Christmas-Carol.-Photo-by-Pia-Johnson |
Chrismukkah is upon us! Christmas, with all its tinsel, trees and Jesus, collides with Chanukkah in A Very Jewish Christmas Carol.
Steel yourself for an audacious take on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in which the belligerent, miserly, misanthropic Scrooge is Elysheva Scroogavitz (Miriam Glaser), known as Ely, a reclusive and sad, young Jewish woman who wrestles with family, pregnancy, a failing bakery she inherited from her grandmother, her Bubi (Evelyn Krape), and the recent death of her baby’s daddy (Michael Whalley) by ill-timed bee-sting.
Nothing is sacred in this script written by Elise Esther Hearst with Phillip Kavanagh and directed by Sarah Giles. Both Christmas and Channukah, Christian and Jewish customs get a pasting. Music, food, characters and rituals from both cultures merge into Chrismukkah parodies.
The ghosts arrive in bizarre cross-cultural, Chrismukkah forms: a smart-talking Rein-dybbuk (Louise Siversen), a hilarious, childlike gingerbread Golem (Krape) and Lilith (Natalie Gamsu) as a grim-faced, black-gowned, spooky sort of cabaret singer. Amidst the demon ghosts is Ely’s vivid, acerbic and critical Bubi, played with relish by Krape.
The audience guffawed at the cheap and cheesy jokes, the dialogue littered with Jewish humour and cultural references, and the recognisable characters: overbearing mother (Gamsu), flighty little sister (Emma Jevons), every-present Rabbi (Jude Perl), intrusive mother-in-law (Siversen), and grumpy albeit dead, grandmother.
Ely’s Christian mother-in-law is ridiculed for her ignorance of Jewish culture and rituals and her obsession with all things Christmassy. (Her treatment, unfortunately, has a whiff of bigotry.)
Despite the hilarity, the production and the script are not totally successful. The link to Dickens’ story is tenuous and it’s a stretch to see Ely as anything other than a depressed, grieving young mother-to-be. Bubi ‘s character and back story would make a far more convincing and effective Scrooge.
After the chaos of the first 80 minutes, the play takes a turn for the dramatic and tragic as Bubi revisits her past and her family in pre-war Poland, the last time she saw them alive. There is a mismatch between the style and execution of these two parts; so much so that it feels like two different plays.
The acting is uneven amongst the cast, but Krape steals she show with her bolshy Bubi and ebullient bouncing gingerbread child. It’s worth the ticket just to see Krape gambol around the stage like a mad, wind-up toy.
by Kate Herbert
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| Miriam Glaser-A-Very-Jewish-Christmas-Carol.-Photo-by-Pia-Johnson |
CAST
Fran / Lilith / Ensemble Natalie Gamsu
Ely Miriam Glaser
Sarah / Ensemble Emma Jevons
Bubi / Golem / Ensemble Evelyn Krape
Rivka / Ensemble Jude Perl
Carol / Rein-Dybbuk / Ensemble Louise Siversen
Ben / Ensemble Michael Whalley
CREATIVE TEAM
Director Sarah Giles
Associate Director Cassandra Fumi
Musical Director / Arranger Jude Perl
Set Designer Jacob Battista
Costume Designer Dann Barber
Lighting Designer Richard Vabre
Composer & Sound Designer Jed Palmer
Design Concept Contributor Jonathon Oxlade
Additional Composition Jude Perl
Voice & Text Coach Matt Furlani
Fight Choreographer Lyndall Grant
Intimacy Coordinator Cessalee Stovall
Polish Translation & Language Coach Krystyna Duszniak
Yiddish Translation Rebecca (Rivke) Margolis
Yiddish Language Coach & Song Translation Freydi Mrocki
Directing Intern (VCA) Kathryn Yates
Set Design Intern (VCA) Ishan Vivekanantham
Costume Design Intern (VCA) Louisa Fitzgerald
Stage Manager Whitney McNamara
Deputy Stage Manager Meg Richardson
Assistant Stage Manager Brittany Stock
Rehearsal Photographer Charlie Kinross
Production Photographer Pia Johnson
Marketing Campaign Photographer Jo Duck
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