Australian Jewish News
Theatre Review—Stan Marks

…the play was filled with humour, the love of family, the tragedy, traumas and impossibilities of a Jewish marriage, the relations between husband and wife, children and parents, and with daughters-in-law and sons-in-law.

Jack Felman gave a riveting performance as the Eastern European Jewish husband, family man and Holocaust survivor with a subtle—and times not so subtle—insight into Jewish family life.

He also looks at how the mother manipulates the rest of the family and her influence on all its members in a practice that can be traced back thousands of years.

At times Felman switched from Yiddish to half English and half Yiddish, which made it easier for those with a scant knowledge of Yiddish to appreciate the humour and some of the barbs, which may have been too truthful for a few people.

Lena Fiszman—who gave a rewarding performance as the wife and mother—explains, the real meaning of why Jews are described as the “chosen people” is because the schadchen chose the men and women for each other.

This was especially so after millions who would have wed each other were killed in the Holocaust. Allen Brostek was a warm, convincing and humorous interlocutor who contributed to the overall success.