Watching Fiddler on the Roof at the Barbican, in Jordan Fein’s production, was an unexpectedly personal experience. Hearing songs I once rehearsed myself, a quarter of a century ago, felt almost like opening an old diary. Yet this version was worlds apart from our school theatrical experiments.
Fiddler on the Roof follows Tevye, a poor Jewish milkman in Tsarist Russia, as he tries to keep his family and traditions intact while everything around him shifts. His daughters want to marry for love, the world grows more hostile by the day, and exile creeps closer. It’s a story about home, change, and what’s worth holding on to—with some of the best songs ever written.
Fein’s staging creates a claustrophobic sense of village life: in most scenes, the entire cast sits on stage, surrounding the action like the neighbours they’re meant to be. It’s intimate and tense—a perfect reflection of shtetl life, where everyone knows your business and sometimes reads your letters. This atmosphere is echoed by the Fiddler character, who follows Tevye like a double—part inner voice, part Golem.
Tevye himself, played by the charming Adam Dannheisser, was a force. Lara Pulver’s Golde was just as strong: grounded and quietly heartbreaking. Their duet “Do You Love Me?” was one of many standout moments for me—a quiet, funny, and moving pause in the chaos. Dannheisser and Pulver delivered it with such tenderness and restraint that it felt like the heart of the whole production.
In 2025, Sholem Aleichem’s themes remain painfully resonant in a world of forced migrations, displacement, and leaving home behind. As someone who’s recently emigrated, I found it struck more than a few chords.
👍👍
Fiddler on the Roof
Barbican Theatre, London
Book by Joseph Stein, music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
Directed by Jordan Fein
Choreographed by Julia Cheng
Designed by Tom Scutt
Cast: Adam Dannheisser as Tevye, Lara Pulver as Golde, et al.
Elia Kabanov is a science writer covering the past, present and future of technology (@metkere).
Illustration by Elia Kabanov feat. DALL-E.
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