by Lex Melony

The official world premiere of this deeply personal queer Jewish story took place on 6 May 2025.

Last night, I was at Marylebone Theatre for the official world premiere of Faygele and I left with a lump in my throat. It’s the kind of play that stays with you, not because it shouts, but because it speaks gently, honestly, and with the kind of emotional courage that’s hard to shake.

Written by Shimmy Braun and directed with great sensitivity by Hannah Chissick, Faygele is a story of identity, isolation and survival, wrapped in the intimate world of an Orthodox Jewish household. The title, a Yiddish slang word used both insultingly and defiantly to mean “gay,” sets the tone. This is a play unafraid to hold contradiction.

At the centre is Ari Freed, a teenage boy caught between faith, family, and his growing awareness of his sexuality. Ilan Galkoff, who carries much of the show’s emotional weight, delivers a performance that is both fragile and quietly fierce. From the moment Ari enters, shoulders tight and eyes wary, you know exactly what’s at stake.

This isn’t a play that holds your hand. It lets the silence speak. It gives space to shame, fear, and those small moments of resistance that mean everything. There are beautifully restrained scenes between Ari and his father (Ben Caplan, playing the emotionally locked-down Dr Freed) and deeply human, quietly heartbreaking moments with his mother (Clara Francis), who clings to the safety of tradition even as she watches her son slip away from it.

Then there is Rabbi Lev, played by Andrew Paul with a chilling gentleness, the kind that tries to help but ends up hurting anyway. The script avoids easy villains. Instead, we see a network of people bound by love, fear, and what they’ve been taught to believe is right.

But it’s Yiftach Mizrahi, playing the fiery and unpredictable Sammy Stein, who cracks the world open. He’s a catalyst, a reminder that life can be bigger than the rules we’re given. His scenes with Ari are electric, sparking with risk and tenderness. They reminded me of how it felt to discover desire for the first time, terrifying, beautiful, and absolutely necessary.

The direction by Chissick is confident and unshowy. Scenes unfold with quiet tension, framed by a set that feels lived-in and tight, echoing the play’s emotional claustrophobia. The lighting shifts gently, almost imperceptibly, to mark emotional changes rather than physical ones. It’s a smart choice that keeps our attention on the inner world of the characters.

There are a few moments where the play leans a little too hard into exposition, and some secondary characters could use more depth. But these are small criticisms in a production that otherwise knows exactly what it’s doing.

Braun’s writing is personal but never self-indulgent. The play began, he says, during the pandemic, born out of a decade-long ache. His own story, a former closeted Orthodox gay man once married with children, hovers over the play like a ghost. And it’s the ghost of another boy, one who didn’t survive, that gave life to Ari. That story, which could so easily have been lost, becomes a heartbeat throughout the play.

What Faygele does best is what so much theatre struggles to do. It listens. It lets us hear the quiet suffering, the small joys, the impossible choices. And in doing so, it offers something rare, a moment of recognition for anyone who’s ever had to choose between being loved and being true.

After the final scene, the cast returned for a brief bow. The applause was warm but not rushed, as if everyone needed a moment to land. It wasn’t a night for easy words, just the kind that follow you quietly all the way home.

★★★★☆
A solid four stars, not because it’s perfect, but because it’s real.

Cast

• Ilan Galkoff as Ari Freed
• Ben Caplan as Dr Freed
• Clara Francis as Mrs Freed
• Andrew Paul as Rabbi Lev
• Yiftach Mizrahi as Sammy Stein

Creative Team

• Writer: Shimmy Braun
• Director: Hannah Chissick
• Set and Costume Designer: David Shields
• Lighting Designer: Nic Farman
• Sound Designer: Dan Samson
• Casting Director: Rob Kelly
• Company Stage Manager: Elsie O’Rourke
• Deputy Stage Manager: Jordan Deegan-Fleet
• Producers: Make It Shimmy Productions
• General Management: Thomas Hopkins Productions

Performance Details

• Venue: Marylebone Theatre, 35 Park Road, London NW1 6XT
• Run Dates: 30 April to 31 May 2025
• Times: Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm, with Thursday and Saturday matinees at 2.30pm
• Running Time: 90 minutes (no interval)
• Age Recommendation: 14+
• Content Warnings: Strong language, death, homophobic slurs, mention of suicide, haze and strobe effects

Tickets

Tickets range from £22.25 to £77.25 and are available via:
Marylebone Theatre
Official London Theatre
London Theatre Direct

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