Heritage matters in Falsettos, a musical by James Lapine and William Finn which now gets its long-awaited UK premiere. Written and set in the Eighties, it follows what happens when Marvin (Daniel Boys), a Jewish man, leaves his wife and son for another man, called Whizzer – but still wants to keep his family together to plan Jason’s bar mitzvah. (To further complicate matters, his wife Trina then remarries – with Marvin’s therapist.)
Beginning as a breezy, almost-nostalgic romcom with a twist, this lesser-known work looks at the passing down of traditions – from family to relationships to religion – while its characters gently give themselves permission to overthrow them. With a nimble score that weaves together politics with the intricacies of family life, Jason’s religious coming-of-age becomes a backdrop to his dad’s lesson that there is more than one way of being a man. Later, surreal, dream-like interludes invade as the events of history catch up, bringing with it a deep howl of pain at the tragedy of the AIDS crisis.
This production, directed by Tara Overfield-Wilkinson, has been drawn into an online debate, more nuanced than the internet can handle, about whether the company meaningfully engaged with the Jewish community to tell this story. It was an issue worth raising because at times there’s a sense of broad brush strokes.
But on the whole this is an intelligent, subversive musical that feels like a neglected gem. The cast expertly tread the fine line between comedy and pathos, with Laura Pitt-Pulford shining as Trina, and Albert Atack as Jason brilliantly conveying the deadpan wit of the lyrics (“My father’s a homo – my mother’s not thrilled at all”).
Until Nov 23 (lwtheatres.co.uk; 0207 087 7900)
