Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre | ★★★★✩ As Jordan Fein’s much-anticipated arrives, the metaphor of the fiddler perched precariously atop a roof resonates more than ever. This is Jewish musical that tells Jewish story. “Without tradition, our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof,” declares Tevye, the steadfast milkman of Sholem Aleichem’s story, immortalised in the 1964 musical.
Fein’s production is remarkably true to tradition and serves as a reminder that our story began long before October 7 2023 or 1948. Under a canopy of trees, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre feels closer to Anatevka than any proscenium arched theatre, and, with modern flair, Fein transports us back to the time of our great-grandparents. Marc Brenner The striking set, designed by Tom Scutt, features a wheat field roof opening into the village; a book turning the page on tradition.
Like Anatevka, the theatre is isolated, but the outside world creeps in, with birds and helicopters flying above. Staged in the fields of Ukraine among racist rioters, the story blazes with relevance. Fein paints in bold strokes and reinvents the classic in a series of cinematic images: Motel cycling down the field, Tevye pulling his milk cart into the village, and Chava running into Regent’s Park.
Act One is full of comic moments and legendary melodies. As night approaches, the pace quickens, and by the time the ensemble reaches the light has dipped below the horizon and the second half, with.