The playwright who puts his Jewishness centre stage

“The heart and soul is the same but the length and breadth of it is is much fuller,” says Cassenbaum.

When we meet online his Jewish pantomime Goldie Frocks and the Bear Mitzvah is near the end of its run at JW3. “What I've tried to do is take in as much Essex, east and north London suburban Jewish culture as possible,” adds the playwright. Although Lavoyah has a provocative plot at its core the writer has so far not yet experienced any push back from members of the Corbyn’s camp.

“I haven’t had anyone in [to see the show] who is mates with Corbyn,” says Cassenbaum. “That might be more possible in London,” he says.

The only negative comments the playwright has encountered about his satire has been in the “too Jewish” mould from theatre owners. The notion that there is a level of Jewishness that a play must not exceed if it is to be performed on British stage has in the past affected the way the Cassenbaum has approached his projects.

“Are our audiences going to understand it?” is how artistic directors normally put it, according to Cassenbaum. “I have, in some commissions, attempted to make it a little less Jewish in the hope that maybe the theatre will put it on,” he admits.

Barnett and Corbett-Bader as Lauren and Dan[Missing Credit]

He is not alone. Such well known Jewish playwrights as Ryan Craig, Alexis Zegerman and Amy Rosenthal have all been made to feel in one way or another that the Jewishness of their dramatic voices must in some way be inhibited if their work is to be produced. This is odd, agrees Cassenbaum, given that the first rule of storytelling is that audiences see themselves in cultures that are different from their own, which is why Fiddler on the Roof was a huge hit in Japan.

“Universality within the specific. That’s what it’s all about!”, says Cassenbaum pithily. “It’s crazy. But I don’t think we [Jews] are unique in having that response to us from theatre buildings.”

He is no doubt that audiences are into theatre from all backgrounds.

“When we did the run in Edinburgh, we didn't have Jewish houses. The Jewish community in Edinburgh is quite small.”

The same experience applies to Bubble Shmeisis, Cassenbaum’s Klezmer-infused one-man show which he has been performing for ten years. In it his on stage alter-ego searches for a Jewish identity that ends up in the last schvitz in Canning Town.

“I've toured it everywhere including where they have probably never even heard the word Jewish before, and people are just like, ‘Yeah, this is a great story.’”

Yet despite this track record doors to theatres initially remained closed for his latest play.

“Me and my producer [Becky Plotnek, who is also producing Cassenbaum’s yearly pantos at JW3] had to raise all the money and do it all ourselves, go to Edinburgh and win awards before a theatre would go agree to give it a run. But I’ve [still] very much attempted not to do the self-censorship thing. I don't really think the play is about Corbyn so much. It's about how people responded to him. Obviously the man said and did stupid things. But what most angered me about the Corbyn era is that it pulled the Jewish community apart. We used to be able to have conversations and spirited debate. Then things just felt as if they went a bit like this,” says Cassenbaum as he breaks the links formed by the fingers of both his hands.

“I know people who have fallen out with their parents. I know people who don't see much their family anymore,” he says. A lot of that division is caused by “varying opinions around Israel”, he says.

“It's a shame because there should always be room for disagreement within our community.”

Yet despite the “too Jewish” experience the writer does feel Jewish theatre is having a bit of a moment.

“I do feel very optimistic about Jewish work at the moment,” he says, with the irrepressible side of his personality coming back to the fore.

“The past couple of years have seen a surge. There was [Deli Segal’s one-woman play] Pickle which sold out at the Soho Theatre, the musical Cable Street has had two runs and obviously there is [Mark Rosenblatt’s Roald Dahl play starring John Lithgow] Giant which sold out at the Royal Court [and which transfers to the West End in April].”

Yet Cassenbaum wonders whether plays should ever be defined by their heritage.

“When do plays by Jews, or people of colour or by east Asian writers, when is our work just a decent piece of theatre?”

Such thoughts seem a digression however for a writer who was born Cassen and restored the last part of his which once dropped, presumably to make it sound less Jewish.

“In my plays I come in head first with the Jewishness because I think it's important,” he says. “When people come to my plays I want them to know. Other Jewish writers have a more complicated relationship with their Jewishness. But from conversations I’ve had even they seem to want to lean into their Jewishness more, which is exciting. I do also think audiences – Jewish and non-Jewish – are open and ready for Jewish work. If there's an issue, it's the administrators at buildings, that’s where the stop-gap is.”

Stop-gap or no Cassenbaum continues to do his schtick. Lavoyah, he reveals, will tour later this year while Bubble Schmeisis is going to Brooklyn in March.

“The next thing I want to write is a parody horror of the Golem set in Stamford Hill. It will be called the A10 Golem.”

Revenge: After the Lavoyah is at The Yard Theatre until January 25

theyardtheatre.co.uk