Theatre review: Treasure

The latest "forgotten" play to be unearthed at the Finborough Theatre is thought to be a British premiere: Colin Chambers has written a new adaptation of David Pinski's 1906 Yiddish play Treasure. Part of a whole genre of Yiddish theatre that went on to inspire Fiddler on the Roof, the play is set in a Jewish town in a part of Russia that would nowadays be within the boundaries of Belarus. There Chone (James Pearse) has been the local gravedigger for the last 14 years, not a well-paid job but a steady one as the harsh conditions mean he's never short of customers. When his simpleton son Judke (Sid Sagar) buries his dog, he finds a stash of sovereigns which he gives as a gift to his sister Tille (Olivia Bernstone.) This puts Tille in an unusual position of power over Chone and his wife Jachne-Braine (Fiz Marcus,) who beg her for the gold coins; but she has plans to see what it's like to be rich, if only for one day.

Theatre review: Free As Air

Bonkers 1954 musical Salad Days was a hit when revived at Riverside Studios a couple of years ago, which makes it not quite obscure enough to fit the Finborough's "lost classics" strand. So instead, to mark that show's 50th anniversary, they're reviving Julian Slade and Dorothy Reynolds' 1957 follow-up, Free As Air. The fictional Channel Island of Terhu is preparing to celebrate its annual Independence Day, but is struggling to find a May Queen because their laws stipulate nobody can fill the role twice, and every woman and girl on the island has already had a turn. So when a stranger, Geraldine (Charlotte Baptie) is picked up by the supply boat, she not only solves this thorny problem, but steals the heart of the heir to the island, Albert (Daniel Cane.) But Geraldine turns out to be a wealthy heiress and favourite of the gossip columns, and the press won't let her hide so easily.