★★★★★ Old Stock – A Refugee Love Story
If you are
looking for the definition of a theatrical tour de force, look no
further than Old Stock – A Refugee Love Story. Playwright, Hannah Moscovitch
has created an eighty-minute play with music that tells the almost-true story
of her Jewish great-grandparents and their arrival in Canada from Romania in
1908.
With little
more than a container as a set, the entire story explodes from within. Ben
Caplan leads the small ensemble of actors and musicians, playing the Wanderer -
the quintessential master of ceremonies, studiously telling the story with
pace, humour and sensitivity while smashing the confines of the fourth wall
with tremendous effect.
Behind the
doors of the container are revealed a four-piece band, two of whom play Chaim
(Eric Da Costa) and Chaya (Mary Fay Coady), immigrants who meet in the queue at
Halifax harbour in Canada. They go on to marry, even though both of them have
horrendous backstories. Despite this, and there will be no spoilers here, this
is a piece permeated with great humour - particularly in adversity – horror,
sadness and the ultimate joy of human will.
Da Costa and
Coady are pure joy to watch. As performers, they tell their story with enormous
strength, charming originality and infinite comedy, even when we are
experiencing gut-wrenching horror and sadness. Their performances are, as is
their playing, exquisite.
Ben Caplan is
undoubtedly in a league of his own. He sings with assured confidence and
commands the audience in an almost hypnotic brilliance. Whether extracting
unending double entendres from a song about an element of the female
anatomy, drawing fun from Jewish customs or simply conveying the horror of the
pogrom, this is a stunning, virtuoso performance.
Christian Barry directs with sensitivity, verve and undoubted panache but Old Stock is
by no means an easy watch. At times it is emotionally draining but is
nevertheless an original, glorious, smart and must-see exploration
of human resilience and survival – unmissable!
Old Stock – A Refugee Love Story is playing
at Wilton’s Musical Hall until September 28 2019
at Wilton’s Musical Hall until September 28 2019
Click here for tickets http://wiltons.org.uk/whatson/572-old-stock-a-refugee-love-story-
A 2b theatre company Production
Cast
Ben Caplan (The Wanderer)
Mary Fay Coady (Chaya, Violin)
Eric Da Costa (Chaim, Clarinet & various other instruments)
Jeff Kingsbury (Drumset)
Kelsey McNulty (Keyboard, Accordion)
Creative team
Playwright: Hannah Moscovitch
Cast
Ben Caplan (The Wanderer)
Mary Fay Coady (Chaya, Violin)
Eric Da Costa (Chaim, Clarinet & various other instruments)
Jeff Kingsbury (Drumset)
Kelsey McNulty (Keyboard, Accordion)
Creative team
Playwright: Hannah Moscovitch
Director:
Christian Barry
Songs
by: Ben Caplan & Christian Barry*
*Except
for Traveler's Curse by Geoff Berner & The Happy People by
Danny Rubenstein
**Additional
Music Composed by Graham Scott
Stage
and Production Manager: Louisa Adamson
Tech
Manager, Sound Engineer & Operator: Rory Howson
Rehearsal
Stage Manager: Christine Oakey
Rehearsal
Production Assistant: Patricia Vinluan
Set
Design: Louisa Adamson & Christian Barry
Lighting
Design: Louisa Adamson & Christian Barry
Sound
Design: Jordan Palmer, Graham Scott, Christian Barry & Ben Caplan
Costume
Design: Carly Beamish
Assistant
Director: Laura Vingoe-Cram
Voice
and Speech Coach: Susan Stackhouse
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