What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank is brave, bold and urgent, as it unpicks in real-time the global conflicts, religious ideologies and political failures that will shape our world for decades to come. What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank is now playing at the Marylebone Theatre. Book Tickets.
On December 4th 2011, The New Yorker published Nathan Englander’s “What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank.” In this short story, two Jewish couples, Debbie and Phil, a liberal couple in South Florida, and Lauren (now Shoshana) and Mark (now Yerucham), an Orthodox Jewish couple from Israel, meet for the first time in decades, with Debbie and Shoshana having recently rekindled their old friendship through Facebook and Skype. However, as both couples enjoy canapés and drinks in Debbie and Phil’s Florida home, conversations quickly turn sour as discussions on religion, liberalism, statehood, fear, and intergenerational trauma force each couple to face the very foundations of their identity, faith and political beliefs.
The play of Englander’s story would open at San Diego’s The Old Globe to rave reviews in 2022, and now, under the skilful direction of Patrick Marber, Englander’s updated play, reflecting the current global storm in the Middle East, has arrived on stage at the Marylebone Theatre. This updated version builds upon Englander’s ability to weave sharp comedy into the thorniest social, religious and political issues in a play that dares to tread rocky ground. What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank is a testament to the power of theatre to create debate, spark discussion, and raise subjects that many people would rather avoid.
In a similar vein to Josh Harmon’s Bad Jews, Marber and Englander employ comedy and chamber drama as a means for intelligent, urgent, and spiky conversations on identity, while maintaining a delicate balance in their views. This play is so rooted in the here and now that one can’t help but feel that Marber, Englander and their outstanding cast are constantly navigating last-minute changes and additions.
Just like the original text, the play centres around the Liberal, well-off American Jewish couple, Phil and Debbie (Joshua Malina and Caroline Catz), as they host the Jerusalem-based Orthodox Jewish couple, Shoshana and Yerucham (Dorothea Myer-Bennett and Simon Yadoo), in their lavish Florida home. Debbie and Shoshana were best friends in their teenage years, but they haven’t seen each other since Lauren (Shoshana) converted to the Orthodox faith and moved to Israel. From the outset, Phil is less than taken with the idea of a reunion. He finds it almost impossible to keep his political views at bay as Shoshana and Yerucham immediately launch into conversations on traditional Jewish values and the importance of their faith in every aspect of their new lives in Israel.
To say the atmosphere is tense as the wine is poured and nibbles consumed is an understatement. Still, that atmosphere is about to get a whole lot worse as discussions on October 7th, Gaza, the very foundations of the Israeli state and the interface between religion, state and politics take centre stage. But Phil, Debbie, Shoshana, and Yerucham aren’t alone; sitting in his bedroom, Debbie and Phil’s son, Trevor (Gabriel Howell), is far more concerned about the environment and the failure of politics and religion to provide answers for a generation left to pick up the pieces. Acting as a compère, Howell’s Trevor is the glue that keeps this play together, providing a youthful voice to the proceedings while introducing and scrutinising the on-stage action.
Malina, Catz, Howell, Myer-Bennett and Yadoo are nothing short of exceptional throughout, tackling complex dialogue and themes with such passion and skill that it is impossible to take your eyes off them for a second. They skillfully navigate Englander’s knotty discussions while beautifully exploring the individual motivations, beliefs and contradictions behind each character. Here. What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank may centre around a range of broad, challenging socio-political and religious themes, but Englander’s play never loses sight of the individual actions, behaviours and experiences that build these global viewpoints, including the intergenerational trauma that continues to affect communities and individuals in shaping religious and political actions.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank is brave, bold and urgent, as it unpicks in real-time the global conflicts, religious ideologies and political failures that will shape our world for decades to come. Beyond asking, “Who in your life would you trust to keep you alive? And who do you know who would risk their own life for yours? It asks, “In a world that echoes with the turmoil and uncertainty of the 1930s, how can we overcome our divisions to work together as a human race before it’s too late?” This is a big, meaty question that many choose to avoid, but in a world of increasing populism, division, religious extremism, and denial, it’s a question we must all face sooner or later, regardless of our beliefs, politics, nationality, or age.
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