Now in its fourth year, Tsitsit – the Jewish Fringe Festival – has an important role to play. Not only is it an essential platform to stage the work of Jewish performers, it is also a much-needed lifeline to support Jewish creatives. But it almost didn’t happen.
Founder and director Alastair Falk explains: “When the tragic events of 7 October happened last year, we thought long and hard about whether we should cancel the 2023 festival. In the end we decided it was right to display strength and not be cowed by what was happening. We cut out all the live music and comedy and just featured events that were appropriate, namely performances celebrating some aspect of Jewish community and life.
“We never thought that a year later war would still be waging, the hostages would not be home and that the tragic situation in Israel and Gaza would be continuing. Once again we had to discuss whether or not the festival should go ahead. The consensus, when we talked to Jewish creatives, was that they wanted Tsitsit to happen in 2024. They said it had to continue because to cancel it would be wrong and that now, more than ever before, they felt they needed a stage. A place where they could proudly say they were Jewish without encountering problems.”
In response to what is happening in the Middle East, Alastair decided this year to open up the festival to different types of performances, including a selection of thoughtful plays and more reflective work than in the past.
Kitchen Quartet cabaret
Of course Tsitsit is not just about helping Jewish creatives – it is also about letting lovers of Jewish performance see new and exciting work, and there is a diverse range of shows.
Perhaps the jewel in the crown is the marking of anniversaries of two theatre greats, Jack Rosenthal and Wolf Mankowitz, on Sunday 17 November at JW3. Tea With Jack is an afternoon celebrating the life of Jack Rosenthal CBE 20 years after he died – with special guests including his wife Maureen Lipman and daughter Amy Rosenthal who will be sharing anecdotes and featuring clips from Jack’s TV, film and theatre work including Barmitzvah Boy and The Evacuees.
Jack Rosenthal
“Jack is a supreme example of a deeply Jewish writer with a unique view on humanity,” says Alastair. “Many people do not realise the huge contribution he made, not only as a playwright, but also in his scriptwriting for television – for example in penning hundreds of episodes of Coronation Street.
“We are also staging two of Wolf Mankowitz’s short comic plays to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth – It Should Happen To A Dog and The Mighty Hunter. Wolf was a contributing writer on James Bond films as well as a talented playwright.”
Wolf Mankowitz
Performances on offer range from the joyous yet haunting melodies of the Buenos Klezmer group to Joyfully Jewish, a trilogy of three new Jewish plays presented by the Echoes Theatre Company founded by Rachel Gaffin Fidler, who says: “When people watch the plays we want them to remember what they love about being Jewish.”
London-based director, dramaturg and producer Adam Lenson has his own show, Is It Too Late Now To Say I Am Sorry, about the regrets that haunt you.
The Mute Messiah is inspired by a Yiddish short story but brought bang up to date in a play about negotiating the benefits system.
And playwright Meryl O’Rourke’s Thrown By Giants is a fascinating true story about her mother’s and grandmother’s experiences in the women’s internment camp on the Isle of Man.
Barb Jungr
Music lovers can hear jazz star Barb Jungr’s special take on Leonard Cohen’s and Bob Dylan’s songs and for people who like a little bit of everything there is cabaret with the Kitchen Quartet.
Among Tsitsit’s key pillars are investing in developing new work and helping Jewish performers to reach far wider audiences. “We are not about staging the same old plays over and over again,” says Alastair. “There are amazing creatives with incredibly innovative ideas and Tsitsit is there to welcome and support them and provide a platform for their work. We know the concept of a Jewish Fringe works – when we announced our theatre residencies earlier this year we were inundated with applicants. We have built up a reputation and are a recognised brand that Jewish theatre creatives respect. This is what we want to build on – to take that trust and ensure we achieve our goals.”
Adam Lenson
Previous festivals have featured acts from all over the world but Tsitsit 2024 focuses solely on UK-based creatives. “Many Jewish people in the UK theatre world have voiced a feeling of unease and it was only right to let them have the opportunity to perform. They may not be experiencing open discrimination but some have told us they find it harder to interest venues in their shows because Jewish work can be perceived as something that could attract adverse publicity. This is wrong for so many reasons and it is denying audiences the chance to see great work”.
Shows are staged at JW3, The Arts Depot, the Libra Café in Camden, Actors East in Dalston and The White Bear Theatre in Kennington.
“Although Tsitsit 2024 is London-centric, we are in talks with other fringe festivals across the UK about there being a designated Tsitsit section at their events,” says Alastair. “This would mean innovative, brilliant Jewish theatre could be seen on stages across the country by totally new audiences.”
Tsitsit runs from 7 – 25 November in venues across London tsitsitfringe.org
The free theatre streaming website screensaver.co.uk will be showing a selection of recordings when the festival is over.
