Chicken Soup with Barley

Details

A landmark play in the history of post-war British theatre, Chicken Soup with Barley is a political drama based upon Wesker's own experiences of growing up in a Jewish family in the East End of London. Spanning three decades, it documents the effect of post-war social issues on Jewish families such as Wesker's. For the Kahn family the Promised Land is neither the Jerusalem of their forebears, not the basement flat they live in now. Their dreams of a better world is sustained by the vitality of the community around them, and is put to the test in the anti-fascist riots of the 1930s. History begins to take its toll as the mother's ideals and resilience contend with a father's weakness in a deeply moving portrait of the forces that drive us apart, and the ties that bind us together.

Cast/Performers

Samantha Spiro (Sarah Khan), Jenna Augen (Ada Kahn), Steve Furst (Hymie Kossof), Joel Gillman (Dave Simmonds), Ilan Goodman (Prince Silver), Harry Peacock (Money Blatt), Tom Rosenthal (Ronnie Kahn), Danny Webb (Harry Kahn), Alexis Zegerman (Cissie)

Creatives/Company

Author: Arnold Wesker
Corporate Sponsor: Coutts & Co
Producer: Royal Court Theatre
Director: Dominic Cooke
Design: Ultz
Lighting: Charles Balfour
Sound: Gareth Fry
Music: Gary Yershon