Book: Joseph Stein
Music: Jerry Bock
Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick
Director: Jordan Fein
Based on the stories of one of the most beloved Jewish writers, Sholem Rabinovitz (or Aleichem), Fiddler on the Roof opened on Broadway in 1964 and became one of its longest-running shows. A story about Jews being persecuted in a turn-of-the-century Ukrainian village doesn’t sound like box-office, but fundamentally it’s about family, love, heartache, and the slog of just getting by, and they are aspects of life we can all relate to. “Every one of us is a fiddler on the roof trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck.”
This tour follows on from a run in 2024 at the Regents Park Open Air Theatre, with some performers continuing in their roles, and others joining for the tour.
The set is formed by a wheat field, used to great effect to create the scene, provide entrances and exits, give cover to the wonderful orchestra and create a realistic backdrop for the action. The muted colours of the wheat, the earthy tones and simplicity of the costumes and props, and the muted and hazy lighting all combine to give the show a slightly grimy, grainy, dusty and down-at-heel feel.
The show is at its best in the big numbers – the songs with mass voices and choreography. Songs like Tradition, Sabbath Prayer, To Life, Sunrise, Sunset, The Wedding Dance and Anatevka will last long in the memory. Beautifully written of course, but powerfully performed to stir the emotions.
The orchestra is excellent and the choreography impressive – very energetic, lively and authentic. The shaven-headed Russian Cossack soldiers are athletic and menacing, and the Bottle Dance, where five actors dance with bottles balancing on their heads, has everyone holding their breath!
Raphael Papo as the Fiddler is excellent and deserves a special mention. He has a real virtuosity and presence, but he is also an incredibly agile mover and dancer.
However, the production fails at times to deliver in the more intimate, smaller moments where the acting and choreography appear more formulaic and scripted. As a case in point, Do You Love Me – the gorgeously poignant song between husband and wife Tevye and Golde – fails to tug at the heartstrings. And some of the directorial choices serve to distract rather than enlighten – having cast members sitting around the stage in full view during the initial scenes, having such a massive solid roof to the set, and the strange mix of accents.
Of course, it’s hard to sit through a performance like this without reflecting on the crises engulfing the world that find resonance in the show. The action takes place in what is now Ukraine, with the local citizens facing cruel Russian aggression. “As the good book says, if you spit in the air, it lands in your face.” And, of course, the scourge of antisemitism and ‘othering’ of groups of people leading to their banishment and relocation as refugees. “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. That way the whole world will be blind and toothless.” It certainly provokes reflection.
Runs until 23 August 2025 and on tour
