Podcast
JR Outloud
Hosted by Jewish Renaissance · EN
JR's Arts Editor Judi Herman presents her series of podcasts, featuring interviews with leading playwrights, actors and other creatives, as well as guided audio tours of the latest exhibitions with a Jewish cultural interest.
11episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
In conversation: Ken Ludwig
Apr 10Tap to summarizeAmerican playwright Ken Ludwig presents the stage adaptation of his parents’ true love story; a couple who met through correspondence during World War II after being set up as pen pals. Inspired by Ludwig’s Jewish faith and heritage, Dear Jack, Dear Louise follows military doctor and US Army captain Jack and aspiring actor and dancer Louise, who exchanged hundreds of letters. The play, which is currently premiering at the Arcola Theatre in London, shows the power of words even in the darkest chapters of history. Here, he shares more behind the play – and his deep love of Shakespeare – with JR's arts and podcast editor Judi Herman.We also hear from the executive director of The Ken Ludwig Company, Ashley Polasek.
Transcribe →
In conversation: Cat Goscovitch
Feb 26Tap to summarizeThis week marks four years since Russian troops were ordered by President Vladimir Putin to march into Ukraine and carry out his "special operation": the invasion of the country's close neighbour. It is poignant timing then, for the premiere of not one, but five plays under the powerful title Ukraine Unbroken: A Nation’s Fight for Freedom. Conceived by Nicolas Kent (co-director of The Great Game: Afghanistan), it charts 12 turbulent years of modern Ukrainian history, from the 2014 Maidan protests to Russia’s full-scale 2022 invasion. The plays, which are performed with live music by Mariia Petrovska on the bandura (a Ukrainian string instrument), feature:Always by Jonathan Myerson, documenting a married couple’s experience of the violent Maidan protests;Five Day War by David Edgar, portraying Russia’s 2022 invasion;Three Mates by Natalka Vorozhbit and translated by Sasha Dugdale, looking at the different choices a group of friends makes during the war;Wretched Things by David Greig, which is set on the front line and follows the moral dilemma Ukrainian soldiers face after capturing a wounded North Korean fighter;Taken by Cat Goscovitch, about a mother’s search for her stolen daughter, inspired by the real abduction of thousands of Ukrainian children.To learn more, we spoke to Goskovitch, who is the daughter of acclaimed Jewish playwright CP Taylor. She talks about discovering Ukraine, Russian disinformation and her ramshackle upbringing.
Transcribe →
In conversation: Rosie Yadid
Nov 27Tap to summarizeFollowing two hugely successful years of Jewish panto at JW3, playwright Nick Cassenbaum returns for a third act. This time the fairytale of Cinderella gets the potty panto treatment, with more infectious music, madcap constumes and mischievous antics. Ahead of opening night on Sunday 7 December, we spoke to one half of this year's mean sister duo, Fleishig & Milchig (Yiddish for Meat & Dairy). Hit play below to hear New York performer Rosie Yadid (Milchig) discuss the crossover between seder and panto, smashing archetypes and "80s realness". And listen out too for the voice of producer Becky Plotnek.
Transcribe →
In conversation: Frankie Thompson
Dec 9, 2024Tap to summarizeAfter the success of London’s first ever Jewish panto last year, which had everyone from babies to bubbas in fits of giggles, it’s only right that the family fun returns for a second season. The same team behind the hilarious Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Pig, presents Goldie Frocks and the Bear Mitzvah, about East Ender Goldie Frocks and the fuzzy Behr family, who are preparing for the best bear mitzvah Picalilli Circus has ever seen. Judi Herman caught up with one of the stars of the show, Frankie Thompson (aka Baby Behr), to talk about her family history in theatre, using comedy to address difficult topics and living up to the legend of ‘Smelly Bum’.
Transcribe →
In conversation: Nina Menkes
May 16, 2023Tap to summarizeJewish American filmmaker Nina Menkes has been a pioneer of independent cinema since the 1980s, challenging conventions through her unwavering and unique vision. The BFI Southbank is currently running a retrospective of her work, in light of which Menkes sits down to chat with critic and lecturer Dr Julia Wagner. Menkes discusses her latest documentary, Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power; the significance of being a child of parents who fled the Holocaust; and the visual and aural style of her films.Cinematic Sorceress: The Films of Nina Menkes runs until Wednesday 31 May. Times and prices vary. BFI Southbank, SE1 8XT. whatson.bfi.org.uk
Transcribe →
In conversation: Alexandra Damiani
Jan 30, 2023Tap to summarizeIf you love Leonard Cohen and dance, here's an irresistible offering. Dance Me: Music by Leonard Cohen – presented by Ballets Jazz Montréal (based, as the name suggests, in Cohen’s home city) – sets the bard's rich and profound work to movement, video and more. The company has already toured the world and now it’s London’s turn to thrill to their glorious and moving interpretation, which was actually approved by the man himself when it was first conceived by then artistic director Louis Robitaille. In a revealing chat with Cohen devotee Judi Herman, Alexandra Damiani, current artistic director of BJM, spoke about the show, the ideas behind it and Damiani’s own career.Dance Me: Music by Leonard Cohen runs Tuesday 7 – Saturday 11 & Tuesday 14 February. 7.30pm, 2.30pm (Thu & Sat only), £33.75-£84.38. Sadler’s Wells, EC1R 4TN. sadlerswells.com
Transcribe →
In conversation: Ben Brown
May 18, 2022Tap to summarizeThe year is 1945 and playrwight Ben Brown takes us to the estate near Berlin, where Heinrich Himmler, architect of the Holocaust, meets in secret with a Swedish Jew and member of the World Jewish Congress, Norbert Masur. The meeting is at the instigation of the estate’s owmer, Himmler’s Finnish physiotherapist Dr Felix Kersten, who has persuaded Hitler’s deputy to come without the Führer’s knowledge, to bargain for his life as it becomes clear that Germany is losing the war. The stakes are high, the freeing of thousands of Jews from camps is the bargaining chip, and the 'night' whose end is in sight in Brown’s tense, eye-opening drama is World War II and the Holocaust. Listen as Judi Herman speaks to Brown about his vital source material – both Kersten’s memoirs and Masur’s account written immediately on his return to Stockholm – and his fascination with vividly reimagining vital moments in 20th-century history.The End of the Night runs until Saturday 28 May. 7.30pm, 3pm (Thu & Sat only). £18.50-£32.50, £16.50-£23.50 concs. Park Theatre, N4 3JP. parktheatre.co.ukRead our review of The End of the Night on the JR blog.
Transcribe →
In conversation: Josephine Burton
Nov 18, 2021Tap to summarizeThis year marks the 80th anniversary of the massacre of more than 33,000 Jews by Nazi occupying forces in the ravine of Babyn Yar in the suburbs of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. The figures rose to more than 100,000 over the following two years of Nazi occupation. Songs for Babyn Yar marks this anniversary with a performance featuring three Ukrainian musicians – Yuriy Gurzhy, Svetlana Kundish and Mariana Sadovska – who have composed and arranged the music. Drawing on diverse voices, including survivors’ testimonies, traditional Yiddish and Ukrainian folk songs and poetry, they journey deep into 100 years of their country’s history to reveal forgotten stories and silenced songs. It is a new act of remembrance that also asks how to move forward from a tragedy that has never been fully commemorated. After a performance at JW3 on Sunday 21 November, it will tour to Ukraine and there are plans for further UK performances. Songs for Babyn Yar is directed by Josephine Burton, artistic director of Dash Arts, who spoke to JR’s arts editor Judi Herman about the story of the production and how it tells a powerful story.Songs for Babyn Yar runs Sunday 21 November. 7.30pm. £15 (in-person), £5 (online only). JW3, NW3 6ET. 020 7433 8988. jw3.org.uk
Transcribe →
In conversation: Peter Tate
Nov 11, 2021Tap to summarizeMany of us have seen The Merchant of Venice, perhaps Shakespeare’s most controversial play, featuring Shylock, the reviled Jewish moneylender. But now, theatre director Bill Alexander, who has directed the play several times to much acclaim, has created this “all-new modern-day adaptation”, set in what he calls the "blackly comic world of modern Venice", tellingly entitled A Merchant of Venice – did you spot the indefinite article?In Alexander’s version which, he says, "focuses on just six key characters, their entangled loves, desires and fortunes", Peter Tate plays Shylock. He is also co-artistic director (with Anthony Biggs) of The Playground Theatre in west London. He spoke to JR’s arts editor Judi Herman about the loves, desires and fortunes of Shylock, and the joys and challenges of running one of London’s newest theatres, which is currently welcoming Shakespeare In Italy, the company behind the production, with its brief to take the works of Shakespeare to new audiences in exciting and interesting ways.A Merchant of Venice runs until Saturday 4 December. 7.30pm, 2.30pm (Thu & Sat only). From £13.50. The Playground Theatre, W10 6RQ. theplaygroundtheatre.london
Transcribe →
Little Amal is welcomed to London
Oct 27, 2021Tap to summarize“It was heart-stopping! It’s hard to remember she’s a puppet, she is so real and lifelike" © David Levene © David Levene © David Levene © David Levene © David Levene © David Levene © David Levene JR OutLoud Little Amal is welcomed to London Download Since she set off in July, JR has been following the extraordinary journey across Europe of Little Amal, the giant puppet of a nine-year-old refugee girl. She is searching for her mother and, on the way, highlighting the plight of her fellow refugees. JR’s Judi Herman spoke to the theatremaker behind the project, David Lan in the Summer 2021 issue of JR, and has been looking forward to Little Amal’s arrival in the UK ever since. Last weekend she joined the crowds thronging the steps of St Paul’s, along with leaders of different faith communities, to welcome Little Amal to the capital, listen to the band and speak to members of the crowd, including Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, Sheikh Ibrahim Moghra and Rev Lucy Winkett of St James’s Church, Piccadilly.Later, Herman caught up with Lan, who joined her via Zoom from Oxford, where Little Amal was due next, to meet a girl who equalled her in size – a huge puppet of Lewis Carroll’s Alice – there to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Alice Through the Looking Glass. But first join us on the steps of St Paul’s…The Walk with Amal runs until Wednesday 3 November. Times, prices and venues vary. walkwithamal.org Read our interview with David Lan in the Summer 2021 issue of JR and read more about The Walk with Amal on the JR blog.
Transcribe →