Faygele

Marylebone Theatre

Shimmy Braun's new show 'Faygele' has a hard hitting and unsettling storyline that is filled with deep emotion. This show has potential if areas are revisited. Very important subjects discussed!

Content Warning: This show touches on hard hitting themes of suicide, negativity towards sexuality, parents enforcing religion and unhealthy family relationships.

A show that starts at the end and as the story is told it's hard to connect with areas of the story, because you know where it leads. Faygele is a Yiddish slang for an awful negative word used to describe homosexual individuals and it's a word that I wouldn't be comfortable to write on my blog. The play follows a young Jewish male who tells the story of why he ended his life to the audience. This piece is written by Shimmy Braun, and he has stated that this piece of writing is close to his heart and comes from a very personal place. You will learn a lot from this piece, and it explores the negative impact that can sometimes come from enforcing religious views and followings on to children. It also shows that change and acceptance always needs to be revisited and that people should always be open to educating themselves on being more accepting. This piece reminds the audience of the importance of welcoming difference and celebrating all kinds of love!

Whilst the show covers some imperative and hard-hitting subjects the creative elements of the show do not match the content. The opening also gives you a false sense of security that the play will be comic at times, there is a lack of comic relief and it's understandable since the subject is serious. The audience feels welcomed with ease as they expect a lighthearted piece, but the show is the opposite, and this would be a stronger element if they weren't made aware of the fate of the main character. Ari Freed, the 18-year-old main character is played by IIan Galkoff. He presents the characters vulnerability well and clearly shows how his character longs to be free of judgement and welcomed with acceptance from his family. However, his performance lacks a build-up of emotion as his situation worsens and it's difficult to feel the full emotion that you should towards his character, because it feels that his character needs a clearer arc and to throw himself in to those moments of raw emotion to get the audience to fully feel the emotions that they should towards him. The fragmented relationship between the mother played by Clara Francis and father played by Ben Caplan feels unnatural and the negative tension between them needs to build up more. However, the two show their character's personalities well.

The stage is set to give the impression of Ari's funeral; there is a picture of a young 13-year-old Ari at his Bar Mitzvah. Set is designed by David Shields. The picture stays in the corner for the whole piece and reminds the audience throughout how on the outside a person may seem like they have all the love and support in the world, when in reality they could be living a life filled with judgement, pressure and the inability to be who they truly are. One of the strongest visual moments is at the end as the father collapses onto his son's coffin as he is overwhelmed with guilt and grief. The staging is dark, minimal and the transitions between scenes are slick.

This piece of theatre is eye opening, real and a great piece of writing. With a few refinements and as the cast become more comfortable with their roles this piece could be very emotive. It will be interesting to see how this piece progresses. There are some really shocking, hurtful and raw moments in this piece which remind the audience of the importance of being accepting, how words and actions can have a negative impact on your peers! You learn a lot about sexuality in religion and the difficultly of hiding who you are to avoid prejudice. This piece is important!