Thereafter the specifics of Craig’s play, which was first seen in 2011 at the National Theatre, take over. It emerges David’s son was flying helicopters for the IDF in Gaza. The forthcoming memorial at the local synagogue has prompted the homecoming of David’s daughter Ruth (Dorothea Myer-Bennett), a human rights lawyer. She is part of a team investigating alleged Israeli war crimes for the UN which has raised the prospect of the service being picketed by pro-Israel and anti-Ruth protestors.
The final member of the Rosenberg family is David’s under achieving youngest son Jonny (Nitai Levy) who is going off the rails, if he were ever on them.
All this is a lot for the architecture of any play to bear. And there are moments when Lyndsay Posner’s sure-footed production can’t help but creak under the weight of the Miller-like multiple reckonings in Act 2. Yet it all stands up.
This is partly because the world has caught up with Craig’s initial vision. To me, in 2009, the idea that members of Edgware’s Jewish community might disrupt the commemoration of one of their own, causing the rabbi to ask Ruth to stay away from her own brother’s memorial, seemed too much like a dramatic device.
True, Richard Goldstone’s real life controversial, then recent report into the actions of Hamas and Israel during the 2008 war formed part of Craig’s inspiration for the play. But in today’s even more febrile atmosphere where you can’t leave the house for protests the play no longer has a whiff of dramatic convenience. More than that, the sight of a Jewish family being ripped apart by conflicting opinions about Israel and Gaza is more of a thing than it ever was.
In that context the play stands out for bringing nuance and complexity to a subject which is debated with verbal baseball bats. With the arrival of Ruth’s boss (Adrian Lukis in the role is more Michael Mansfield than Richard Goldstone) one finds oneself almost interceding in the arguments as the protagonists go toe-to-toe in the Rosenberg sitting room.
With cabinets displaying Judaica and a (usually) underused bar area in the corner, Tim Shortall’s set is a triumph of what might be called north London Jewish aspirational aesthetic. The palatial Roman pillars erected by David outside the front door of his semi-detached are not visible on the set. But oh boy, we can see them.
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Tracy-Ann Oberman and Dorothea Myer-Bennett. (Photo: Manuel Harlen)[Missing Credit]
The evening is very well acted, especially by the women. Myer-Bennett is spot on as the slightly disdainful daughter whose education has allowed her to escape her father’s failing catering business. Oberman once again shows she just can’t be bettered when it comes to portraying tough, clever working-class Jewish women. As the food-plying Lesley (being both Jewish and the wife of a caterer is a dangerous combination for any visitor who has eaten in the previous few days) she is funny but never trite in the role which Craig has punched up for this important revival.
It is a minor miracle that he comes out of it with a good deal of credit instead of egg on his face. Quite how much tension is generated by the evening can be put down to the play’s content and how much to the febrile climate in which it is being staged is difficult to quantify. But what is certain is that Craig tackles head on the anxiety of being Jewish.
You could argue that the late arrival of a sudden plot twist is in danger of making the evening feel over wrought. But then you could say the same for Miller.
The Holy Rosenbergs
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