The Barrier at the Park Theatre – review

Toby Liszt as Shalev and Dominique Gerrard as Malka. Photograph: Simon Annand

Jewish life in the East End has a long and distinguished history, but while tales of Yiddische bubbes schlepping gefilte fish and bagels home from Bloom’s in Whitechapel are two a penny, the ultra-orthodox Haredim of Stamford Hill remain a closed book.

These black-hatted Tzadiks belong to various sects – the Satmarer, Lubavitch, Bobover, etc – and are deeply conservative in matters of faith.

Playwright Sally Llewellyn deserves credit for trying to write about this closed community and its relationship, such as it is, with wider society, but the result is underwhelming.

Things get off to a promising start and the premise is excellent: Hassid Shalev Silverman (Toby Liszt) and his wife Malka (Dominique Gerrard) have moved in next door to gentiles Cas (Antonia Davies) and Sam (Jack Pierce), but the Haredi couple are horrified to discover that they are causing a security light next door to come on every time they walk to their front door – including on the holy day of rest, Shabbos.

Anyone who has ever lived in Stamford Hill will know that switching on a light on Shabbos is a definite no-no, and the Silvermans arrange for a barrier to be erected between their home and their neighbour’s to block out the light and thus remain spiritually pure.

This could have been the hook for a great exploration of religion and the limits of tolerance and multiculturalism, but instead it turns into a confused muddle.

Scenes that could have benefited from careful building up seem rushed, and in place of plot points to move the action on in meaningful ways, the audience is given frequent explosions anguished shouting (“fuck” this and “shit” that) that seem to come out of nowhere and convey little.

There is plenty of discussion about phoning Hackney Council’s planning team or, on occasions when there is a raucous Haredi wedding, the noise team, which is understandable under the circumstances but doesn’t make for great theatre.

In one scene Cas and Sam chat round the dinner table with her hippyish mum Roxy (Tessa Wood) and mum’s partner Harry (Jeremy Bennett), but the dialogue is laboured, and the introduction of a mentally ill and alcoholic racist character nicknamed Mussolini seems farcical.

Though there are good things about this play and the production, including the clever set, one leaves the theatre with a sense of missed opportunities.

The Barrier is at the Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, N4 3JP until October 20