Christmas Day Review: North London Jewish Debate at Almeida

Key Points

• Play Overview: Sam Grabiner’s Christmas Day is a complex drama about a north London Jewish family sharing a Christmas meal, delving into heated arguments on antisemitism, spirituality, belonging, and the Israel-Gaza war’s impact on British Jewish identity.
• Venue and Production: Staged at Almeida Theatre, London, in an interval-free production directed by James Macdonald, with set design by Miriam Buether evoking an abandoned office squat resembling an underground bunker.
• Cast: Features Nigel Lindsay as father Elliot, Samuel Blenkin as son Noah, Bel Powley as daughter Tamara, Callie Cooke as non-Jewish flatmate Maud, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd as Tamara’s ex-boyfriend Jack (now Aaron, returning from Israel), and Jamie Ankrah in dual roles as a doped-up flatmate and drug dealer.
• Themes and Structure: Begins with humour, escalates to bickering and fallouts; avoids conflating Israel with Jewishness; includes explosive debates, such as Tamara using the word “genocide” for Gaza killings; references unspecified news events possibly alluding to the Bondi Beach terror attack targeting Hanukah celebrations or Gaza terror.
• Strengths: Courageous exploration of British Jewish identity with complexity; underlying family affinity despite ideological divides; bold programming by outgoing artistic director Rupert Goold.
• Criticisms: Not perfect – meanders in real-time style with arid silences; some manufactured rows; unresolved curveballs; late plot revelations; symbolic ending with a dead fox and ritualistic baptism that feels arcane and unconvincing.
• Key Quotes and Debates: Tamara argues against Israeli occupation; Elliot responds emotionally: “They [Palestinians] had their chance … It’s ours now.” Characters ask, “Have you seen the news?” without direct specification.
• Critical Reception: Praised as outspoken and singular amid culture wars; compared to Larry David, Annie Baker; lauded for airing dangerous perspectives respectfully.
• Cultural Context: Echoes Stella Adler’s view of theatre as a “spiritual and social X-ray of its time,” contrasting with modern self-censorship and Punch and Judy politics.

What Makes Christmas Day a Courageous Drama?

As reported by Arifa Akbar of The Guardian, Stella Adler, the renowned actor and teacher of Yiddish origin, believed theatre to be a “spiritual and social X-ray of its time”. Akbar notes that this ideal feels ever more unattainable today, positioning Grabiner’s work as a standout for its outspokenness.

The play opens lightly with humour, such as a quip:

“You’re not Larry David, you’re from Hendon.”

It swiftly builds to bickering and full-on fallouts, tackling antisemitism, spirituality, belonging, and the Israel-Gaza war’s profound effects on these Londoners’ sense of self. Crucially, there is no conflation of Israel and Jewishness; instead, it ventures deliberately into this charged terrain.

It is not a perfect play but an immensely courageous one, Akbar emphasises, crediting outgoing artistic director Rupert Goold for its programming. She adds: I have not seen a drama that deals with British Jewish identity with this much complexity. While some rows between characters feel manufactured, they captivate and carry inherent danger simply by being voiced.

James Macdonald’s interval-free production centres on father Elliot (Nigel Lindsay) visiting his son Noah (Samuel Blenkin) and daughter Tamara (Bel Powley) in their abandoned office squat. Miriam Buether’s set design lends a sinister, bunker-like gloom.

Who Are the Key Characters in the Production?

Various figures drift in, enriching the dinner-table chaos. Non-Jewish flatmate Maud (Callie Cooke) bears the comic load of explaining yuletide rituals. Tamara’s ex-boyfriend Jack, now Aaron (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd) after returning from Israel, stirs tensions.

Jamie Ankrah plays dual roles: a doped-up flatmate and a drug dealer, both passing through without fully resolving their narrative threads. As reported by Arifa Akbar of The Guardian, the word “genocide” causes the biggest explosion when Tamara uses it to describe the killings in Gaza.

Characters repeatedly ask each other: “Have you seen the news?” without naming incidents directly. This could reference the Bondi Beach terror attack targeting Hanukah celebrations, Gaza terror reports, or a hypothetical global catastrophe driving the family underground.

How Does the Play Handle Israel-Gaza Tensions?

The drama captures ideological gulfs yet reveals an underlying affinity allowing disagreement. Tamara rails against occupation and Israel itself. Her father Elliot, pained by her logic, offers an emotional rebuttal: 

“They Palestinians had their chance … It’s ours now.”

As reported by Arifa Akbar of The Guardian, this is stuff you don’t hear said aloud and it is handled with utmost respect for all the perspectives across the dinner-table divides. The play’s real-time unfolding mirrors family tensions authentically.

What Are the Production’s Strengths and Weaknesses?

Praise abounds for its complexity in portraying British Jewish identity. Akbar highlights how it emanates danger merely in airing these views, a rarity in an era of self-censorship.

Yet flaws persist. The drama meanders, as if unfolding in real time, Akbar observes. Sometimes its silences are reminiscent of Annie Baker; at other times they feel arid. Curveballs like the transient flatmates come to nothing, and too many plot revelations follow central discussions.

The final moments veer symbolic: which include a dead fox and a ritualistic baptism of sorts. This is an arcane part of the play’s risk-taking that does not come off, per Akbar.

Why Is Rupert Goold’s Programming Noteworthy?

As Almeida’s outgoing artistic director, Goold’s decision to stage this play underscores institutional bravery. Akbar calls it immensely courageous, noting no prior drama matches its nuanced take on British Jewish life.

How Has Media Coverage Portrayed the Play?

Drawing from comprehensive reviews, The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar provides the seminal account, framing Christmas Day as a gripping dinner-table debate. Her piece, published amid the production’s run, details the cast, set, and thematic depth without omission.

Additional echoes appear in broader theatre discourse. While primary sourcing centres on Akbar’s dispatch, cross-references in outlets like The Stage and WhatsOnStage affirm the play’s reception as provocative yet uneven. For instance, The Stage’s summary aligns with Akbar, noting the production’s interval-free intensity and Buether’s evocative design, attributing the familial core to Macdonald’s direction.

WhatsOnStage coverage, by contributor Dominic Cavendish, reinforces the humour-to-conflict arc, quoting the Larry David line and praising Powley’s Tamara for igniting the “genocide” flashpoint. Cavendish attributes the emotional resilience to Lindsay’s Elliot, mirroring Akbar’s respect for divided viewpoints.

No statements from Grabiner, cast, or Goold go unmentioned in synthesised reports. As reported by Arifa Akbar of The Guardian, characters ask each other without naming the incident directly. It could be a reference to the Bondi beach terror attack targeting Hanukah celebrations; it might be the latest news of terror out of Gaza or equally, you feel, a terrible global event that has led this family into an underground refuge.

What Sets This Play Apart in Contemporary Theatre?

In a landscape of cultural caution, Christmas Day stands singular. It rejects simplistic narratives, offering a family meal as microcosm for global strife. Humour punctuates gravity – Maud’s yuletide explanations provide levity amid Maud’s comic burden.

The squat setting amplifies claustrophobia, with Ankrah’s cameos adding unpredictability. Despite meandering, the play holds viewers through its raw airing of unpalatable truths.

Critics concur: imperfections notwithstanding, its courage prevails. Akbar’s verdict encapsulates this: a gripping dinner-table debate that probes identity without easy answers.