Cable Street by Tim Gilvin & Alex Kanefsky, Marylebone Theatre, 35 Park Road, London NW1 | until 28 February 2026 ⭐⭐ Review by William Russell

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Cable Street

by Tim Gilvin & Alex Kanefsky

Marylebone Theatre, 35 Park Road, London NW1 | until 28 February 2026

⭐⭐ Review by William Russell

“Relevant, worthy, well performed but exhausting.”

The Cable Street riots in October 1936 when Oswald Mosley took his British Union of Fascists on a march through the East End of London are the subject of this sprawling musical by Gilvin and Kanefsky which was first staged two years ago at Southwark Playhouse to enthusiastic reviews. This production at the Marylebone Theatre is another stage on its journey and there is no denying that the clash between the Fascists and the East Enders some Irish, some Jewish, and how the police handled the battles make the events relevant to today. But in spite of an enthusiastic cast, it is overloaded with songs and never did so few handle so many chairs – mostly to build barriers on which they then stood declaiming yet another song – to so little effect. At the heart there is a romance between Mairead and two young local men, one of whom, Ron, is linked to the Fascists, the other Jewish is tempted to violence, somehow never quite provides the centre to the piece. What we see is not helped because this is one of those productions in which people play many parts and women playing men's parts, always a problem, here makes the goings on seem at times preposterous. Nor does the framing device – a guide taking some present-day tourists round the streets where it all took place – add to the story. The fact that one of them is an American returning to the streets where her family once lived never hits home as it should. Everyone works hard but what should make the audience sit back and think about all those flag waving demonstrators of today, their warped nationalism and resort to violence really does not  achieve the effect it should do. It is a worthy attempt and deserves its time on this theatre's stage, but it needs tighter construction, fewer songs and a greater clarity about what was happening and why. As yet another pile of chairs is constructed for people to scale and warble No Passaran at the top of their voices one starts to lose interest.

Cast

Aoife Mac Namara - Orlaith Kenny

Debbie Chazen – Kathleen Kenny, Oonagh.                                        

Annie Majin – Ensemble

Athan Pascal-Peters – Moishee Scheinberg, Sol

Barney Wilkinson – Ron Williams

Isaac Gryn – Sammy Scheinberg

Jez Unwin – Yitzhank Scheinberg, Mick, Steve

Natalie Elisha-Welsh – Rachel Scheinberg

Lizzy-Rose Esin-Kelly – Mairead Kenny

Max Alexander- Taylor – Sean Kenny

Preeya Kalidas – Edie Williams, Elizabeth Warner

Nichali Dantest – Ensemble

Romona Lewis-Malley – Rosa Scheinberg

Creatives

Director – Adam Lenson

Musical Supervision/Vocal Arrangements – Tamara Saringer

Musical Director – Dan Glover

Set Designer – Yoav Segal

Costume Design – Lu Hervert

Choreographer – Jevan Howard-Jones

Liughting Design – Sam Waddington, Ben Jacobs

Sound Design – Charlie Smith