Subtitles are currently being prepared. In the meantime, if you wish to see the script for acessibility, please write to sally@pascal-theatre.com
Pascal Theatre in association with Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre presents
The world premiere
Written and Directed by Julia Pascal
with
Alex Cartuson. Ruth Lass. Danann McAleer. Lisa O’Connor. Eoin O’Dubhghaill.
Designed by Liberty Monroe
Lighting Design by Jon Stacey
Sound Design by Flick Isaac-Chilton
29 November – 21 December 2022
At 12.37pm on 22 July 1946, the King David Hotel in Jerusalem was bombed. 91 people were killed, 46 wounded.
The bombing was carried out by right wing Zionists, targeting the headquarters of the British in Palestine.
Two Irish Jewish brothers, Paul and Cecil Green, journey from their Dublin birthplace, to battling antisemitism on the streets of East London. After the war their Irish nationalism propels them towards Jewish nationalism as they struggle against British Imperialism to form a Jewish nation state.
As violence between British soldiers, and Jewish terrorists erupts, Paul and Cecil become involved in an act of terrorism that changes both their lives.
12:37 raises complex and controversial questions around Jewish violence, homeland and national identity in a stunning new play that is both a hard-hitting historical epic and an intimate family drama.
Showing at the Finborough Theatre
Tuesday, 29 November – Wednesday, 21 December 2022
12-37 is available to purchase from Bloomsbury
Press
“To write an epic play on this scale, using only five actors, is quite an achievement” – @londontheatre1
https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/1237-at-finborough-theatre/
★★★★ London Theatre 1
★★★★ Everything Theatre
★★★★ ReviewsGate
“What an impressive and profound piece of theatre! It worked on so many levels – your writing, your directing and staging, the quality, accuracy, versatility and energy of your terrific cast. It’s both moving and distressing and you’re brilliant!” Mike Leigh
Julia Pascal Interviewed, BBC Lunchtime News 16/12/2022 From 5:20
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001g60h/bbc-london-lunchtime-news-16122022
“Michael Collins and Jewish nationalism” Julia Pascal Interviewed, Irish World 2022 https://www.theirishworld.com/julia-pascal/
excerpts:
LondonTheatre1, John Groves
“The highly talented cast quickly and skilfully draws the audience in so that we feel fully involved in the epic tale they are unfolding.”
“O’Connor has a beautiful poise and stillness in her portrayal that is infinitely watchable…”
“To write an epic play on this scale, using only five actors, is quite an achievement…”
“Pascal’s new play has opened up a period of British, Jewish and Irish history that has lain almost forgotten for nearly ninety years. The result is a gripping piece of theatre.”
Everything Theatre, Sara West
“This is an important and complex play that attempts to raise nuanced and controversial questions around Jewish violence and national identity.”
“The play’s reach is vast and it has been written specifically for a small cast who each undertake a number of roles. They are all beyond exemplary in their portrayal of their characters.”
ReviewsGate, William Russell
“The five strong cast come up with superb performances under the author’s direction…”
“…a really serious play with a great deal to say about nationalism, what makes a terrorist, what constitutes someone fighting for freedom, and how a family’s relationships are affected over the passage of some two decades by events not always outside their control.”
Mark Aspen, Harry Zimmerman
“…an absorbing and powerful piece of theatre.”
“The five-member cast are uniformly excellent and rise effortlessly to the challenge of creating a series of scenes which are believable, occasionally humorous, sometimes moving, but always engaging.”
#Fringe Review, Simon Jenner
http://fringereview.co.uk/review/fringereview-uk/2022/1237/
“What’s striking is how writer/director Pascal refreshes physical theatre business in monologues. Traditional methods gleam with this first-rate ensemble, rippling with a kinetic fluidity that renders storytelling a sinew of water, light, even dust.”
“Lass as Minnie is an indelible Irish-Jewish matriarch, young enough to have one last shot at desire; and as the chillingly pragmatic Matron in 1936 and hardened fighter Shoshana Liebovicz she extends her range.”
“In Harry Cohen [McAleer] finds a sweet spot of complexity and warmth…”
“O’Connor is dazzling, both as sexy plangent Eileen, and Lithuanian Rina…”
“Pascal’s handling of the climactic moments has the effect of collective held breath…”
