Essex-boy Nick Cassenbaum’s madcap comedy heist, Revenge: After the Levoyah, returned to the Yard Theatre in East London on 9th January for a 17-day run.
Fresh from an award-winning run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, this two-hander sees twins, Dan (Dylan Corbett-Bader) and Lauren (Gemma Barnett) meeting with ex-gangster Malcolm Spivak, an 80-year-old gangster at their grandfather’s funeral. Malcolm has ‘had enough’ and enlists the help of the siblings with a plan that’s absolutely meshugge – to kidnap Jeremy Corbyn. Yes, really!
The play was previously premiered work at the theatre’s NOW Festival in 2019 and The Yard’s Artistic Director Jay Miller is pleased to see its return.
“Nick started his journey here, and now returns with exactly the kind of bold, provocative theatre this building has always championed. Work that knows how to entertain while it challenges, to play while it provokes. It’s a celebration of everything The Yard stands for.”
Nick uses storytelling, humour and satire in Revenge: After the Levoyah to look at some of the big topics around what it means what it means to be Jewish in the UK today, like antisemitism, collective hysteria and how far you can through a jar of chraine from a moving vehicle!
His work has toured internationally, selling out in venues around the world. He has written plays, created and performed solo work, and made street performances in collaboration with some of the country’s most celebrated venues, including The Royal Court, Soho Theatre, and Battersea Arts Centre. He has an MA from Goldsmiths in Writing for Performance and is a graduate of the Royal Court Young Writers Programme. He is a co-artistic director of take stock exchange. For the past two years, he has also written the JW3 Panto.
For Nick, he considers this play to be ‘a love letter to Jewish Essex’.
“Growing up in Woodford around East London and Essex Jews, I have always been in love with the rhythms and the way people speak. I’m delighted to have this show playing at The Yard as it’s easy for people from Essex to get to and the parking isn’t bad!”He goes on to add: “This piece is full of things that if you come from that part of the world, you will understand plenty of jokes just for you!”
Revenge: After the Levoyah runs from 9th – 25th January at the Yard Theatre. To book tickets, visit The Yard Theatre website
