Soldiers of Tomorrow by Itai Erdal with Colleen Murphy The Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 | until 4 July 2026 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell

Photo credit: Matt Reznek 

Soldiers of Tomorrow  

by Itai Erdal with Colleen Murphy 

The Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 | until 4 July 2026 

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell 

“Powerful political theatre.” 

Originally performed in Vancouver in 2023 where Itai Erdal has lived since 1999 and later that year on the Edinburgh Fringe this latest version of what is more dramatic monologue than play has been altered with help from the dramatist Colleen Murphy. It is not in itself great theatre, but what has to say is stimulating and enlightening. The plan is to follow each evening's performance with a discussion with the audience and that, possibly, could be the most rewarding part of the season at the Finborough which lasts until 4 July. Erdal, who served in the Israeli Defence Force, left for Canada when he could take no more of what was going on there and the monologue was inspired by the fact that his nephew Ito, who lived in Israel, was going to become. In the words of one of his teachers, a soldier of tomorrow. The result is a deeply uncomfortable look at what the world did following the promise in the Balfour Declaration in 1917 that the British Government viewed with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. Balfour also said that nothing would be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jewish communities there, a vain hope if ever there was. Erdal delivers his monologue backed by a splendid colourful set created by Brian Ball and Juliette Demoulin and music provided by Emad Armouth and it becomes something like a lecture with illustrations as he tells of his own experiences as a soldier which basically drove him to run away from the promised land to escape from the place it was becoming. Anita Rochon has taken the unpromising material and created an evening that works as a powerful piece of political theatre although not as a monologue play. It will make you weep for the folly of the past, angry at the follies of the present as politicians from the rest of the world still persist today in making a mess of the mess their predecessors helped create in Palestine. 

Cast 

Itai Erdal 

Emad Armoush 

Creatives 

Director – Anita Rochon 

Set Design – Brian Ball 

Scenic Art – Juliette Demoulin