“This play is not fully realising its potential”
This is ‘a new play about never forgetting’. It’s a shame the play itself is quite forgettable.
The premise is simple and a familiar storyline in the world of literature and film: a near future where an individual’s memories can be recorded for users to experience elsewhere, not just the images but all the senses. So future customers can experience all human emotions and events, from the joys of childbirth to the horrors of disaster.
The twist/angle in Noga Flaishon’s play is that the final living survivor of the Holocaust is being pressured into having her memories recorded. Her cosy Jewish family is torn apart by the mixed messages and confusing morals on display. Especially when it is discovered that there is a recording on file of a Nazi guard but not a single recording of a Jewish prisoner.
[Rachel Barry, Ashley Margolis and Beverley Klein]
The play’s reliance on the Jewish conundrum is fine, but ultimately not so important. What we are left with are issues, dare I say, bigger than the atrocities of the Holocaust: they are to do with family, legacy, conversation, storytelling, communication. The catastrophe that the family has to deal with takes second place. They can be from any part of the world, following any religion or lifestyle. The play’s depth is far greater than its storyline.
There is a subplot which genuinely gets in the way – about a mother wishing to record the birth of her son. It’s superfluous and confusing, not helped by a performer who is sometimes inaudible.
[Beverley Klein]
Beverley Klein is the star of Memoriam. She plays Rivka, the grandmother with memories she does not want to re-live. But she is being pressured into it by her granddaughter, Rachel, who works for the company that records the memories. Rachel is solidly played by Rachel Barry. Her sparring partner, Ashley Margolis, plays her brother David. They act like genuine siblings, annoying and loving each other in equal measures.
[Beverley Klein and Rachel Barry]
Daniel Goldman’s direction of the play is limited to the space – it’s a play in the round which means characters rarely stay still for long, thereby losing some reality. A shame, because these three characters are the crux of the play and they don’t get the chance to truly dig into the issues on show here. I think this play is not fully realising its potential and, to be honest, not quite trusting itself in seeing the truly bigger story that is trying to be heard. It’s a fascinating Jewish tale, but it is genuinely a story about all of us and how the future will deal with all of our pasts.
Photography Charlie Flint. Writer Noga Flaishon. Director Daniel Goldman. Set & Costume Design Ellie Wintour
Dates until Saturday 21st November 2026. Performances 7pm – with Saturday and Tuesday Matinees at 2.30pm. (No Sunday performances)
Location Southwark Playhouse, 77-85 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BD
Box Office https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk Running Time 1hr40mins – with no interval
Age Guidance 14+