Marylebone Theatre in London has announced new play What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank for their Autumn 2024 season.
Directed by Olivier and Tony Award-winning director Patrick Marber (Leopoldstadt, Dealer’s Choice), What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank is a new serious comedy by Nathan Englander, based on his acclaimed 2011 short story in The New Yorker.
US film and stage actor Joshua Malina (A Few Good Men, Will Bailey on The West Wing), who recently appeared in the Broadway production of Leopoldstadt directed by Patrick Marber, will make his London theatre debut starring as Phil in the play.
The play is billed as a serious new comedy, centred on two Jewish couples – one secular, the other ultra-Orthodox.
Nathan Englander’s short story collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank was first published in 2012, winning the 2012 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
The play is brought to Marylebone Theatre by the producers of the Marylebone Theatre’s 2023 hit The White Factory.
Joining Patrick Marber in the creative team will be design by Anna Fleischle, and sound design by David Gregory.
Full casting and creative team will be announced soon.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank is playing the Marylebone Theatre from 4 October to 23 November 2024.
More about tickets to What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank at the Marylebone Theatre London
What They Said
Writer Nathan Englander said in a statement:
“I first wrote What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank as a short story for the New Yorker Magazine in 2011 and I’ve been rewriting it in different ways ever since. I think my obsession with the piece is probably because the setup is something I see as an increasingly rare occurrence in our ever more polarized and personalized-algorithm driven lives. That is, two best friends, now on opposite ends of political, religious, and economic spectrums come together to talk and laugh and cry it all out—and to see if any of the love they’ve long felt for each other can survive.
As for working with Patrick Marber, it’s been a dream. We dove into a rewrite of the play more than a year ago and have not come up for air since. It’s been some of the most intense and joyous and depressing work I’ve ever done, and beyond symbiotic tackling the piece together. As relates to the difference in our own styles of communication, I’d like to take this moment to apologize to Patrick for interrupting every single sentence he’s tried to utter (but I highly doubt I’ll stop).”
Director Patrick Marber said:
“I’ve loved Nathan Englander’s work since I read his astounding debut short story collection, ‘For The Relief Of Unbearable Urges’. I’m very excited to be directing this UK premiere of his new play. It’s a rare thing to find a comedy that is both hilarious and deeply serious. I’m greatly looking forward to rehearsals with this exceptional cast and with the remarkable Mr Englander in attendance.”
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