'Fiddler on the Roof' review — Jordan Fein's revival raises the roof once again

Read our review of Fiddler on the Roof, winner of three Olivier Awards, now in performances at the Barbican through 19 July.

Jordan Fein’s Fiddler on the Roof was the star of last summer’s Regent’s Park season, earning 13 Olivier Award nominations for a joyful yet poignant revival of the classic Broadway musical about an impoverished, traditional milkman trying to find matches for his five daughters. The show’s encore run this year transposes the action from the park’s spectacular outdoor theatre to the brutalist Barbican. So, how does it fare?

Designer Tom Scutt has kept his wheat-fringed roof, which no longer curves like a wave but rises and falls depending on the scene. The clever design sometimes feels intimate, such as during the candlelit wedding between eldest daughter Tzeitel and local tailor Motel, and at other times, it is oppressive — a visual metaphor for the pressures and prejudices faced by Jewish milkman Tevye, his family, and the rest of his community.

Inevitably, some of that outdoor-theatre magic is lost in moving this show inside — after all, there can be no gently shifting evening sky during “Sunrise, Sunset” in the Barbican. Yet, such a criticism feels unkind when Aideen Malone’s lighting design works overtime to capture the musical’s changing mood: the joyful first act is flooded with warm, rich light; after the interval, as violence threatens to invade Anatevka, the stage is marked by stark white light and long shadows.

Happily, many of the original cast members remain, including Broadway star Adam Dannheisser and Lara Pulver as married couple Tevye and Golde. Their chemistry is just as palpable in this new environment, with “Do You Love Me?” being a particular highlight. Simply staged, with the two perched on Tevye’s milk cart, the duet is a gentle affirmation of long-term love — one that is born out of sacrifice and loyalty. Pulver’s long-suffering Golde calls the shots in their marriage, which provides several comic openings for Dannheisser’s kind-hearted Tevye, who is clearly out of his depth trying to arrange his daughters’ matches.

Hannah Bristow and Georgia Bruce deliver compelling performances, returning to the roles of fiercely independent middle sisters Hodel and Chava, while rising star Natasha Jules Bernard is moving as eldest sister Tzeitel, particularly impressing in the imaginative dream sequence as a nightmarish, Sweeney Todd-esque figure. Beverley Klein is delightful as the gossiping, meddling matchmaker Yente.

Julia Cheng’s exquisite dance sequences honour the musical’s Golden Age roots, as well as Jerome Robbins’s original choreography — specifically inclusion of the Bottle Dance, which delighted the audience on opening night. “To Life” is packed with high kicks, splits, back bends, and squats, showcasing the scene’s drunken revelry, while “The Rumour” humorously captures the problem of Chinese Whispers in this close-knit community, with the ensemble scuttling about as a single group.

Fiddler on the Roof is a true ensemble effort, and nowhere is this clearer than in the powerful closing number “Anatevka”. Standing shoulder to shoulder, the cast sings passionately about the importance of home. At a time when communities the world over are becoming displaced, it is a powerful message that demands to be heard.

Book Fiddler on the Roof tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Hannah Bristow, Natasha Jules Bernard, Georgia Bruce in Fiddler on the Roof at the Barbican. (Photo by Marc Brenner)