Fiddler on the Roof – Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury

Book: Joseph Stein

Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick

Music: Jerry Bock

Director: Jordan Fein

Rundown peasant Tevye faces a revolution outside and inside his home in this mesmerising revival of Fiddler on the Roof.

The touring production brings the acclaimed Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and later at the Barbican, version of the musical around the country, and shines with a combination of gorgeous design, terrific choreography and a stellar cast who evoke the community and hardship as their marginalised Jewish characters in a Soviet backwater, with violent persecution never too far away. What begins as a simple story about a man, Tevye, and the journey of finding his five daughters suitable husbands soon becomes something larger and more urgent as Tevye’s entire existence is threatened. Despite being over 60 years old, the musical remains just as urgent as it ever has, with this particular version striking the right balance between the serious and the comedic.

As the downtrodden doting father Tevye, Matthew Woodyatt shines in creating the charming yet troubled lead. Woodyatt’s powerful portrayal of a man whose entire belief system is continually questioned is effective, and this is tapered with a commanding vocal performance of the book’s iconic numbers. There is warmth and tenderness in Woodyatt’s Tevye, especially when handling the progressively more difficult nuptuals of his eldest three daughters, with Woodyatt, and Joseph Stein’s book, blending nicely Tevye’s bumbling nature, which garners plenty of well-earned laughter, with his genuine existential crisis as the world seems to spin to quickly, too modernly, at times for his rustic attitude. Woodyatt also combines well with Jodie Jacob’s terrific portrayal of Tevye’s formidable wife, Golde. This is a strong depiction of the matriarch, who, like Tevye, struggles to come to terms with changes to her family life, yet just as Woodyatt’s Tevye, Jacob’s Golde is a fine blend of controlled emotions. The pair’s duet, in a charged second half, is one of the musical’s many highlights, succeeding in presenting one of the musical’s core values: love.

Despite having five daughters, the musical spotlights the three eldest: Tzeitel (Natasha Jules Bernard), Hodel (Georgia Bruce) and Chava (Hannah Bristow). All three are given time to explore their various decisions regarding marriage, with increasing danger and risk. All three daughters, though, are empowered in an otherwise traditional environment that places limits on women, with their self-confidence fueled by, and despite, their father’s wishes. Bernard’s Tzeitel is gentle and desperate, wanting a marriage of love rather than arrangement, while Bruce’s Hodel is swept up in the physical entanglements and desires of love after meeting the charismatic revolutionary Perchik (Greg Bernstein). Both of these cause conundrums for the troubled Tevye, torn between traditional values and wanting happiness for his daughters, but the real challenge comes later when middle daughter Chava pushes Tevye’s accommodating nature too far, which provides much of the emotional fraughtness in a moving second half.

The production also shines through its terrific ensemble cast. Jordan Fein’s direction is effective here, placing the ensemble around the stage’s perimeter as permanent onlookers to Tevye’s complex existence, but also representing the gossiping environment of the rural Anatevka. Fein’s direction enables the large ensemble to breathe, giving plenty of time for fringe characters such as the larger-than-life Matchmaker Yente (Beverley Klein) and goofy Rabbi (Mark Faith) moments to shine. It quickly captures the sense of community in this isolated society and makes the looming threat to their existence all the more pertinent.

Furthermore, Tom Scutt’s design for the production, which won the 2025 Olivier Award for Best Set Design, is retained from the production’s previous iterations. It is a beautifully crafted set that turns the beige and brows of rural peasant life into something more lyrical and enchanting. The decision to frame the stage with wheat and hay is effective not just in enabling performers to disguise themselves, but also to evoke a sense of entrapment for those feeling oppressed by this traditional society. In addition, the looming platform that moves up and down above the stage aids this, while also doubling, with some clear staging, as the canopy for traditional Jewish weddings. Despite the play’s rustic setting, this gorgeous set and costume design, as well as Julia Cheng’s brilliant choreography and Aideen Malone’s stunning lighting choices, all combine into an engrossing production.

By the play’s devastating conclusion, reminders about the importance of family life and traditional values linger in the air. Yet despite the bleak and brutal finish, this is a tremendous and triumphant revival of the iconic musical that provokes as much of an emotional outpouring as it does laughter.

Runs until 15 November 2025, then continues tour.