Name: 'The Mikvah Project' review
Item: Orange Tree Theatre
Author: Richard Davies

Richard Davies praises a sensitive production of a play by a new writing talent at the Orange Tree Theatre Richmond...

OUR VERDICT

★★★★

The Orange Tree Theatre Richmond’s latest production is The Mikvah Project, the debut play by exciting new writing talent, Josh Azouz.

First performed to great acclaim at The Yard Theatre, London in 2018, it tells the story of Avi, a 35-year-old man and Eitan, a 17-year-old boy, who develops a ‘special relationship’ while attending the Mikvah, a Jewish ritual bath used for spiritual immersions.

For those (like me) unfamiliar with this watery tradition, the Mikvah is typically as a purification ritual before Shabbat, to mark major life events such as a bar mitzvah, or to signify a new start in life – a symbolic rebirth.

Avi, played by Alex Waldmann, uses the bath to “make his sperm swim”. He and his wife Leyla are desperate to conceive their first child and Avi is feeling the pressure. Eitan, played by Josh Zaré is going through a life change. His voice is breaking and he’s been kicked out of the synagogue choir. He has a habit of talking about himself in the third person. Going to the Mikvah is his latest compulsion as he deals with his hormones and a growing awareness that he’s not like other boys who “buzz off quadratic equations” and “go camping with Zionist Youth movements”.

As he tries to come to terms with his different urges, attending the Mikvah and being with Avi clearly excites him (in more ways than one). From the moment that he reveals his feelings for Avi, the power relationship flips on its head, building up to a moving, if strangely ambivalent close.

As a two-hander in a small theatre space, the play has a remarkable dynamic range.

The witty script fizzes along, addressing diverse topics from the nature of desire to why Jewish boys from Finchley talk in Jamaican patois. Both actors are totally immersed (no pun intended) in their roles - neither puts a foot wrong at any point, while the frequent nude scenes feel completely natural and unremarkable.

The directing by Georgia Green is intelligent and sensitive, with a good balance of light and shade.

What makes the production though is the brilliant set design from Cory Shipp, which transforms the stage into a series of connecting plunge pools, providing a fluid yet contained environment that adds to the intensity of the drama.

While this is undoubtedly a very impressive production and as a first play feels very ‘personal’, I did think that the story lacked depth and was at times rather predictable.

The character of Eitan seems a little too knowing for a 17-year-old (and I’m sorry to say sometimes brought to mind David Walliams’ Sebastian in the Little Britain Prime Minister sketch).

I also found that the script manages to be both open and coy at the same time, using shockingly profane language to describe a synagogue, while being strangely reticent about what actually takes place between the two characters. Minor quibbles aside, I look forward to more plays by Josh Azouz, who is clearly a playwright to watch.