Image credit : ella on flickr

Fiddler on the Roof is the classic tale of Tevye, a poor dairyman and his wife who are forced to react as the world changes around them.

Set in the traditional village of Anatevka, where women’s futures are assigned by their fathers to the most suitable man of highest society, Tevye faces the impossible struggle of governing his five strong willed daughters who one by one begin to seek their own husbands, each one progressively less suitable in the eyes of Tevye and the established customs of the village.

It is a tale favoured by some, yet I found it tiresome to persevere, to no fault of the cast or crew of this performance. The story desires tremendous energy and enthusiasm to prevent it from being a dreary tale with predictable resolutions and instead allow the stage to come alive with rustic characters that the audience will care about.

Luckily, the University of Portsmouth delivered. From the opening song this performance proved it was going to shine with beautiful chaos as the stage was swarmed by a host of lively actors whose collaborative vocals represented the unity of the University spirit.

Particular scenes were resurrected with great imagination by director Dominic Symonds, however the show belonged to the orchestra.

The music excelled to the point the sheer talent became distracting from the action onstage. I could not help but question some of the casting decisions, as the nameless faces in the background seemed to resonate with passion and drive, whereas the leading roles at times felt slightly flat and unconvincing.

A pet hate of mine is to see the actors’ palms repeatedly during a performance, where an actor perhaps feels awkward and out of character and they continuously punctuate their speech with raising their palms, which unfortunately reoccurred in this performance.

Despite this, it was a thoroughly enjoyable performance and, just a little bit of advice for you all, never attempt to recreate the traditional Jewish dancing. You will end up on the floor at Jongleurs… like me.

Rating 4/5