The Mikvah Project was premiering at The Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, in London in March when theatres were told to cancel further performances and close due to the coronavirus pandemic. Four productions were therefore chosen to be part of a special weekend 'Lockdown Theatre Festival' in which the actors and actresses recorded their parts in isolation and were then edited and put together in a slightly rewritten form to accommodate the new medium of radio, and were aired over the weekend on radio 3 and 4.
The Mikvah Project is written by Josh Azouz and is a two-hander and so is ideal for transition to the medium of radio. It is also only a 60 minute one act play which again makes for a better transcription. Very long plays on radio don't work as well.
The best description of this play that I have thus far come up with is "A gay Jewish coming-of-age comedy-drama."
At a Mikvah - a Jewish baths where men perform rituals of purification - two men meet at first by chance, but then gradually as they begin to enjoy each others' company arrange to meet, and then even more surprisingly go on holiday together, before the characters have a long hard look at themselves and try and bring some normaiity and respectability back into their lives. It's a very interesting and undoubtedly factual account of how homosexuality is viewed among the Jewish community, from both the perspective of Avi - a 35 year-old married man, and Eitan, a 17-year old still at school.
For a 60-minute piece there is a lot of sit-com style action happening, with much toing and froing of emotions and decisions, especially with Avi whose wife is now pregnant, but he moves out and shares a one-bed flat with Eitan for a while!
Ultimately the play cannot decide what it wants to be. It could have been a straight docu-style drama, playing the whole thing for real and have a hard-hitting serious consequence and resolution. Or it could have gone for a more sit-com "ooo-err" style, leaving the audience with tears streaming down their faces at the ludicracy of the situations they find themselves in. In the end, the play does neither and sits very unsatisfyingly somewhere in the middle.Sadly that, for me, is the play's failing and ultimately it fails to explore anything new, or leave the audience with anything thought-provoking. It's rather fluffy and insubstantial sadly.
Directed by Georgia Green, the two actors are Alex Waldmann and Josh Zare. It's an enjoyable hour's listen, but instantly forgettable, unfortunately.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 14/6/20
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