BWW Reviews: THE HOLY ROSENBERGS, The National Theatre, March 26 2011

"Do the right thing." Thus goes Dr Morgenstern's advice to David, grieving father, struggling businessman, ageing get-up-and-goer. But what if there is no "right thing" to do, only wrong things? As the same doctor wisely stated earlier in a conversation with a lawyer, "As experts, we know we don't have all the answers."

Ryan Craig's new play, staged in the round at The Cottesloe, is packed with ideas - fare that might be too rich were it not leavened with the chicken-soup-for-the-soul wisdom, wisecracks and the warmth of a family, whose differences are never quite enough to overcome their love for each other. Preparing to bury his elder son Danny, killed fighting for the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza, David cannot control his remaining son Jonny's party-animal antics, nor his daughter Ruth's commitment to an investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes, work that is provoking hostility amongst the local community. As if that wasn't enough, he cannot control his business either, as it spirals towards failure in the wake of false reporting of the death of a customer and competiton from a more ruthless operator. David's hopes for putting his life back back on an even keel rest on history: the long-standing reputation of his family name in the catering business; his protection of the wealthy doctor, a potentially big customer, from childhood bullying; and his belief in the underlying decency of his community. Nevertheless, David Carries an axe in his car doing the late-night minicabbing that makes ends meet. 

Grief, the desire to control people, a faith in a history more legend than fact, destructive misrepresentation in the media, ruthless adversaries, failure to understand the antipathy of others, the weapon as insurance policy - the life of David is, of course, the life of Israel. In less skilled hands, there's a danger that this reduction of the complexities of the Arab-Israeli conflict into an Edgware sitting room would be too trite, but Laurie Sansom's pacy direction and attention to detail means that you're never far away from the next dilemma to chew over or the next laugh in the dark. As David, Henry Goodman is winningly charismatic as he twists in the wind, trying to do the right thing by his own lights in a society that, inexplicably, won't accept his benign dictatorship. Susannah Wise's sensitive performance as cold fish lawyer Ruth, avoids the temptation to waft a whiff of fanaticism across the stage, maintaining the plays carefully constructed balance between conflicting ideas. There's fine work too from Stephen Boxer as the investigating lawyer, who wins, if not the argument with the synagogue-chairman doctor, then at least his respect and Tilly Tremayne as David's exhausted wife.

When the lights went up, there were a few tears around me in the stalls - testament to a play that may be unequivocally about ideas, but does not lose sight of the human drama that underlies geo-political machinations. With protests against public spending cuts just across the Thames going on as I sat in my seat, this production is an example of why public funding of theatre matters. 

The Holy Rosenbergs is at The Cottesloe Theatre through April, May and June.    

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