TRUDY ZELLER LIVES HERE to Mark JW3's First Major Theatre Commission in Nearly a Decade

Trudy Zeller Lives Here is set to launch at JW3 in Spring 2027, for a limited 2 week run. Darkly funny and deeply moving, the play explores the unlikely friendship between two elderly German women and the enduring impact of history, the secrets we keep and the unexpected connections that bring us together. First presented at JW3 as a rehearsed reading in 2024, the play will now become JW3's first extended production outside its annual pantomime in almost a decade, reinforcing a renewed commitment to original Jewish theatre. Performances will run Sunday 7th – Thursday 18th March 2027.

Set against the backdrop of post-Brexit Britain, the serious-comedy play follows neighbours Trudy, a Jewish psychoanalyst who has spent her life distancing herself from her childhood in Nazi Germany, and Hilde, a retired concert pianist who survived the bombing of Cologne. Across the hallway of a north London apartment, an unlikely friendship grows between rugs and loud music choices. Both women are forced to confront the pasts concealed from their adult children, Tamara and Hans, revealing secrets that have afflicted their own lives and those of the generations before them. In this warm and moving play, their friendship explores the legacy of the Second World War and the role of humour in finding humanity amid difficult circumstances.

Written by Allan Leas, the play is inspired by the relationship between his German mother-in-law and her Jewish neighbour. The son of a Lithuanian Jewish refugee, Leas was granted political asylum in the UK after fleeing apartheid South Africa. He has spent more than three decades working in refugee protection, as a consultant to the United Nations and numerous other international organisations, several of which he has led. The play is also directed by Joe Harmston who brings his extensive experience working closely with writers (like Harold Pinter and Ronald Harwood among many others) to the development of new writing at JW3.

Writer Allan Leas comments, After the reading in 2024, it's enormously exciting to see Trudy Zeller Lives Here come to life on stage. It's a play about the unexpected connections between people, the secrets we carry, and the ways in which art can open doors we thought were firmly closed. I can't wait to share it with the JW3 audience.