What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, a new serious comedy by Nathan Englander, opens at the Marylebone Theatre on October 4. Book Tickets.
From the director of the Olivier and Tony Award-winning Leopoldstadt and the producer of 2023’s The White Factory, What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank is based on Nathan Englander’s short story collection that was first published in 2012, winning the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award alongside being a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Nathan Englander said, “I first wrote What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank as a short story for the New Yorker Magazine in 2011, and I’ve been rewriting it in different ways ever since. I think my obsession with the piece is probably because the setup is something I see as an increasingly rare occurrence in our ever more polarised and personalised algorithm-driven lives. That is, two best friends, now on opposite ends of political, religious, and economic spectrums, coming together to talk, laugh, and cry it all out—and to see if any love they’ve long felt for each other can survive.
As for working with Patrick Marber, it’s been a dream. We dove into a rewrite of the play more than a year ago and have not come up for air since. It’s been some of the most intense and joyous and depressing work I’ve ever done, and beyond symbiotic tackling the piece together. As relates to the difference in our own styles of communication, I’d like to take this moment to apologise to Patrick for interrupting every single sentence he’s tried to utter (but I highly doubt I’ll stop).”
Patrick Marber said, “I’ve loved Nathan Englander’s work since I read his astounding debut short story collection, ‘For The Relief Of Unbearable Urges’. I’m very excited to be directing this UK premiere of his new play. It’s a rare thing to find a comedy that is both hilarious and deeply serious. I’m greatly looking forward to rehearsals with this exceptional cast and with the remarkable Mr Englander in attendance.”
What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank stars West Wing, Scandal and The Big Bang Theory star Joshua Malina, making his London theatre debut as ‘Phil.’ Caroline Catz (best known for her roles as Louisa in ITV’s Doc Martin and DI Helen Morton in DCI Banks) plays ‘Debbie’, Dorothea Myer-Bennett (Offie Award-winning actress whose extensive stage credits include Nachtland at the Young Vic and Leopoldstadt in the West End, both directed by Patrick Marber) plays ‘Shoshana’, Simon Yadoo (recently seen in Love’s Labour’s Lost and The School for Scandal on tour for Changeling Theatre) plays ‘Yerucham’, and Gabriel Howell (most recently seen in The Unfriend at Chichester and in the West End, and soon to be starring in the live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon) plays ‘Trevor’.
Read the Cinerama review
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