What to see in April, May and June, from Seth Rogen to Oi Va Voi

Fighters, out now on IZZY

A powerful three-episode documentary series chronicling the journey of Israeli soldiers wounded in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Fighters takes an intimate, raw and emotional look at the soldiers’ rehabilitation at Israel’s Sheba Hospital, combining footage of their injuries, recovery, and the profound impact their trauma has had on their families. The series is co-produced by Keshet 12 and the Israel Entertainment Fund (IEF), a JNF-USA initiative that supports Israeli storytelling for global audiences, and directed by Gal Raz, known for critically acclaimed The Interns and Bring Them Home.

Maayan and Rachel Mulla in episode 3Photo: Fighters

Theatre

An Evening With Phil Rosenthal of Somebody Feed Phil, April 2 at London Palladium

That Somebody Feed Phil is a hugely popular show on Netflix – garnering a cult-like following, and being renewed for an eighth season – is thanks to its magnetic and enthusiastic host Phil Rosenthal. Combining the award-winning Rosenthal’s love of food and travel with some Jewish humour, the Emmy-nominated series has become irresistible TV for foodies, restaurateurs, and intrepid travellers. The twice New York Times best-selling author, who was nominated for a 2024 Critics’ Choice Real TV Award for the series, will offer thought-provoking insights into his 40-year career in entertainment on this new tour, which includes shows at The London Palladium, Manchester Academy, Liverpool Philharmonic and Glasgow’s O2 Academy.

Phil RosenthalPhoto: Richard Rosenthal

Dealer’s Choice, April 18 to June 7 at Donmar Theatre

You’ll have to move fast to secure tickets for the 30th anniversary production of Patrick Marber’s acclaimed 1995 debut play, which won the Evening Standard Award (Best Comedy) and the Writer’s Guild of Great Britain Award (Best West End Play). It has since been performed in more than 50 cities around the world.

Not only is its writer Jewish, but Dealer’s Choice features a Jewish restaurateur and disappointed father, Stephen. The play takes place on a Sunday night, when Stephen is hosting a weekly poker game in the basement of his floundering London restaurant. The chef, waiters and his son are there to play as usual. So is an unexpected stranger. The tension rises as the stakes increase. Matthew Dunster directs this production starring Alfie Allen, Hammed Animashaun, Theo Barklem-Biggs, Brendan Coyle, Kasper Hilton-Hille and Daniel Lapaine.

Faygele, April 30 to May 31 at Marylebone Theatre

A play about faith and identity, love and duty, Faygele premieres at the Marylebone Theatre which has been a recent home to Jewish-themed plays including What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, The White Factory, and its current musical White Rose.

The play centres on 13-year-old Ari Freed, whose world is upended when, at his Bar Mitzvah celebration, his father strikes him down with a single word: “faygele” – a derogatory Yiddish word for gay.

Shimmy Braun’s play is directed by Will Nunziata, and stars Ilan Galkoff (Backstairs Billy), Ben Caplan (A Sherlock Carol), Clara Francis (Leopoldstadt), Andrew Paul (The Bill) and Yiftach Mizrahi (Band of Spies).

The Fiddler on the Roof, May 24 to July 19 at Barbican

Following a critically acclaimed run at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, The Fiddler on the Roof transfers to the Barbican as part of a UK tour. American director Jordan Fein’s production of the 1964 Broadway musical by Joseph Stein, with music from Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, about life in a Jewish shtetl around 1905, has been described as joyous, liberating, humane and sad. Music is a significant draw to this revival, and members of klezmer group Shir augment renditions of Fiddler classics Tradition, If I Were a Rich Man and Sunrise, Sunset, in a production which has been created by a largely Jewish creative team, and starring Adam Dannheisser as Tevye the milkman.

Photo: Marc BrennerJoyous, liberating, humane and sad: The Fiddler on the Roof

Ms MaNDy’s Adventures in Wonderland, June 15 at JW3. Age 14+

An acclaimed artist with motor neurone disease, Sarah Ezekiel paints, speaks and writes using eye gaze technology. Billed as a groundbreaking “dragstravaganza”, Ms MaNDy’s Adventures in Wonderland is Ezekiel’s autobiographical show, and explores her memories of motherhood, illness and creativity, along with her fantasies and hopes for the future – and some nods to her proud Jewish heritage. Through drag, music, dance and generative AI, the show brings to life her vibrant inner world and the challenges of living with severe disability, while also tackling themes of sex, betrayal, murder, nudity and joy. It was devised, directed and performed by Ezekiel and her cast of drag artists, one of whom, Chanukah Lewinsky, is Jewish. The show debuted in Manchester in April, and this is its second showing in the capital.

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Music

Oi Va Voi, May 29 at Bush Hall

Twenty years after Oi Va Voi brought the unlikely fusion of klezmer, soul, jazz and club beats to the masses with their debut album Laughter Through Tears, featuring KT Tunstall, they are releasing their new fifth LP, The Water’s Edge, on May 2. The record is, the band say, “a vibrant and vital affirmation of humanity’s need to put our divisions behind us and come together to forge a better future”. Not only is it a call for cultural connection, but it captures founding members drummer Josh Breslaw and singer-clarinetist Steve Levi-Kallin’s sense of being voiceless as British Jews in an unsettling time post-October 7. As Levi-Kallin puts it, “We didn’t want to write a political album, but we wanted to send a message of solidarity to the people affected, and to people who were despondent and afraid.” This is the band’s only London date to accompany that release.  Songs such as the rousing Dance Again – a direct response to the Hamas attack on the Nova festival – with its hypnotic driving rhythm, emotive vocals and strings, will undoubtedly have the audience on their feet.

Steve Levi-Kallin, John Matts, Kalliopi Mitropoulou, Josh Breslaw and David Orchant of Oi Va VoiPhoto: Andy Lopo

Sabra Swing, April 3 at JW3

Exploring the huge impact of Jews in jazz – their influence on the Great American Songbook and the soundtrack of the silver screen – Sabra Swing are renowned for their crowd-pleasing heartfelt and lively performances. They’ve brought their extensive musical repertoire including jazz standards, Klezmer and Ladino, musical theatre and cabaret songs, to venues around the world and, recently, the EFG London Jazz Festival and Tsitsit Jewish Fringe Festival. Expect virtuosic renditions of songs by the likes of Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Johnny Mandel, Sholom Secunda and Carole King at JW3. Featuring violinist Miriam Kramer, singer Sara Feldmann Brummer, pianist Nicholas Durcan, bassist Steve Rossell and drummer Hamish Birchall.

Sabra Swing explore the huge impact of Jews in jazzPhoto: JW3

Comedy

Sarah Roberts, on tour April 10 to 23 including Soho Theatre

Sarah Roberts, who describes herself as “the world’s youngest, smallest, most normal comedian”, made her debut at Edinburgh Fringe last August with her first hour of stand-up comedy, Silkworm, and landed up featured across the press as a show not to be missed. The BBC New Comedy Award finalist and Rolling Stone’s Rising Star of 2024 honed her comedy techniques on the bar mitzvah circuit. At the bar and bat mitzvahs of her siblings and friends – her first unofficial gigs – she practised her skills in public speaking, discovered that she loved preparing for a speech, and getting laughs and praise. In her hour-long Silkworm she promises silly stories and embargoed gossip about, among other things, going to a girls’ school, being a compulsive liar and Paul Mescal. 