The Wanderers ★★★★

The Wanderers is essentially a play about human relationships, past, present and perhaps imaginary. The story centres around Abe, a prizewinning novelist, played by the versatile Alexander Forsyth, attempting to document his own family history, principally that of his parents Schmuli and Esther, until he is contacted by a well-known actress, one Julia Cheevers, played by Anna Popplewell.

Emotive, intense and comedic at times, this play steals your attention right from the opening scene. What follows is a torturous, twisting exchange of correspondence between the two which develops into a flirtatious, perhaps ultimately boundary-stepping discourse, leading Abe to doubt where reality and fiction begin and end, creating turmoil within his own life and relationships, particularly with his wife, Sophie (Paksie Vernon). Much of the play centres around the lives and relationship between Schmuli and Esther, from the time of their wedding in the Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York – an existence seen from two very different perspectives by two very different people. A large part of Abe’s initial angst stems from his relationship with his parents, but this is immeasurably compounded by the arrival of Hollywood star Julia Cheevers in his inbox.

Anna Ziegler’s writing is delicious, peeling away the layers of each character and laying them bare for us. Under director Igor Golyak’s critical eye, all the characters’ emotions are laid bare in a masterful one hour and forty minutes. At times, the production invites you to feel for each and every one of those on stage.

As well as exploring the deeper interpersonal relationships within families, there are some brilliant, comedic one-liners, which serve to relieve the pressure a little. These are necessary; otherwise, it would be very easy to be drawn inescapably into the darker elements of the tale.

The staging and lighting are disarmingly simple, but they don’t require anything more, making the play easily transferable should it choose to tour. One could count the total number of props used on two hands.

The clever use that visuals play in telling the story is refreshingly different and effective on what is quite a sparsely furnished stage.

All the actors deserve recognition; however, special mention should be given to Eddie Toll and Katerina Tannenbaum (Schmuli and Esther), who give us insight into the traditional Hasidic Jewish ways for us, from two very different standpoints.

Finally, there are the small details which serve to make the experience more enjoyable, such as the ‘Bridge Between Two Languages’ printed on the back of the programme. Much of the play is punctuated with Yiddish, the preferred spoken language of Hasidic Jews, and that additional explanation is a nice touch.

A decadent dip into the human mind and relationships, well worth an evening of anyone’s time.