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The Review - THEATRE by JOSH LOEB
Published: 15 May 2008

Camden | Beau Jest review | Hackney Empire theatre review |

BEAU JEST
Hackney Empire

SARAH Goldman’s parents aren’t huge fans of inter-faith relationships, so imagine their excitement when their daughter announces she is dating David.
Not only is he Jewish, he’s a doctor.
Trouble is, his name is really Bob and he is not Jewish. Nor is he a doctor.
Nor, to begin with at least, are they dating. Thinking Bob is Jewish, Sarah has hired him to play the part of Mr Right and help placate her demanding parents. This soon gets tricky as one lie fuels another and Bob finds himself embroiled in the act.
More a romantic farce than a romantic comedy, Beau Jest will bring a smile to the lips of even those not normally enthused by this genre.
The characters are one dimensional and the American schmaltz is cringe worthy at times, but who cares when the jokes come so thick and fast?
Playwright James Sherman owes much to the inherent funniness of his subject matter. Jewish families can be so loud and highly strung that one suspects little artistic exaggeration was needed.
At the beginning of this comedy of errors, Bob tells Sarah he is not Jewish and she fears her mother will be able to detect this.
Sniffing around her daughter’s phoney boyfriend for the first time, Mrs Goldman declares: “Jewish you don’t look. What are you, Sephardi?”
“No,” insists a terrified Bob, “I’m Jewish.”
Luckily, Beau Jest takes place in the 1980s. Were it set in 2008, Mrs Goldman would Google David’s name and find out that he is not the “heart and brain surgeon” he claims to be. But whilst some things change, others never do, and it’s a safe bet Sherman’s lighthearted comedy will remain capable of tickling a crowd for some time to come.
Until June 1
020 8985 2424

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