The Wanderers at Marylebone Theatre review: a deft study of Jewish identity in America

This polished play from American writer Anna Ziegler is an examination of Jewish identity across two generations in New York and beyond. The protagonist, Abe (Alex Forsyth), is a familiar type, an angsty and self-obsessed writer. He could easily be one of Woody Allen or Philip Roth’s avatars, so convincingly does Ziegler worm her way into his complex male psyche. Indeed, her deft creation of character throughout lifts a script that often threatens to lapse into glib tropes of arty New York society. Director Igor Golyak’s production is well cast if overstated in its visual symbolism.

Abe’s parents were part of Brooklyn’s hyper-traditional Hassidic community, his father Schmuli (Eddie Toll, nicely awkward) “one black hat in a sea of hats”, his conversation studded with Yiddish phrases. During their marriage, Abe’s mother Esther (a shimmering Katerina Tannenbaum) began to yearn for freedoms – a job, a computer, birth control – which prompted a cruel split that led to morbid depression. Abe is weighed down by heritage (one of his novels is called The Orphan of Vilnius) and guilt at failing both parents.