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Inside the new show exploding myths about Cable Street

We meet the writer of a musical about the famous day in 1936 when the people of the East End united to stop the fascists from marching

February 15, 2024 16:04
Cable-Street-Rehearsal-Images-Photo-Credit-Eamonn-B-Shanahan-2024-32
Power to the people: Joshua Ginsberg as Jewish boxer Sam (in striped jumper)

ByJohn Nathan, John Nathan

5 min read

Although it has been 88 years since Jews and others took to the streets of the East End to block the march of Oswald Mosley’s fascists, the event that became known as the Battle of Cable Street continues to inspire art beyond the famous mural on the side of the street’s St George’s Town Hall. The latest is a new musical that takes its name from the narrow road that slices east from former site of the Royal Mint near the Tower of London to Limehouse.

Cable Street, which is currently previewing at Southwark Playhouse, focuses on three East End families — Jewish, Irish Catholic and English — whose lives are each affected by the rise of British fascism in different, sometimes conflicting ways.

Playwright: Alex Kanefsky Credit: Eamonn B Shanahan[Missing Credit]

“There is a young Jewish boxer, Sammy [played by Joshua Ginsburg in his stage debut]; Maired, a young Irish Catholic [Sha Dessy], who is also a member of the Communist Party; and Ron [Danny Colligan], a Lancashire lad who is relatively new to the area and doesn’t fit in terribly well,” explains Alex Kanefsky, who has written the story of the show.