The Wrong Sort of Jew

This is a development fund for The Wrong Sort of Jew, a filmed/live show which premiered at Sands Films in March. We want to turn it into a full live professional production in a prominent theatre, and publish a book containing interviews with the thirty-one Jews on which the show is based.

Let them speak: the life histories and present experiences of non-Zionist, Labour Party Jews.

"Somebody had been trawling my Facebook. They decided to pick on fourteen posts. Mostly against the Israeli government. And in four of them I actually give my background. I come from a family that escaped from the pogroms, that grew up a hundred percent Jewish. My mum fought against Mosley’s blackshirts. It’s like a white person saying to a black anti-apartheid activist, you’re a racist, you’re being racist against black people. You with me?"

Emotional testimony, with its echoes of Kafka and The Crucible, was a feature of a powerful theatre and film staging in Rotherhithe, London. The show dramatised the histories that have shaped Jewish socialists and fuelled their commitments, and revealed how fake allegations of antisemitism were used to attack left-wing supporters of Jeremy Corbyn in the British Labour Party.

Despite a timid silence from theatre venues, we want to move forward on three fronts. Firstly, a full theatre production with nine actors. Secondly, the editing of the filmed version from Sands and then getting it out on the net. And thirdly, the production of a book containing highlights from the fascinating thirty-one interviews with left-wing Jews which form the backbone of the play. We need a lot of money to make these things happen. This fund will enable us to set the wheels rolling on a professional basis.