‘Prayer for the French Republic’ Review: A Three-Hour Lesson in Recent History That Never Takes Flight
10.01.2024 - 03:07
/ variety.com
Daniel D'Addario Chief TV Critic At first blush, the three-hour runtime of “Prayer for the French Republic,” playing at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway, seems appropriate. Though it obviously does not exist specifically in response to the events of Oct.
7, 2023 and the violent aftermath in the months since (for one thing, the play was first staged Off Broadway in 2022), it exists within the context of the entire history of Jews in Europe, and it seeks to draw that history out. Playwright Joshua Harmon seems to be aiming for the reach of Tony Kushner, using maximalist technique to deliver ideas that sprawl forward. He does not get there.
“Prayer for the French Republic” is, in one sense, timely, delivering as it does pointed and direct arguments between characters who represent differing points of view on the nation of Israel. (They do better as representations of ideas, in fact, than as characters.) In 2016, the Benhamou family, led by matriarch Marcelle (Betsy Aidem, undeniably excellent) suffers a crisis of faith in their native France after son Daniel (Aria Shahghasemi) is assaulted on the street for wearing a kippah. Led first by Charles (Nael Nacer), whose own family left Algeria in the 1960s, the Benhamous move towards a decision to emigrate to Israel.
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