The Finkelsteins Are Coming to Dinner
Original Cape Town Production
“A joy to watch.” — Steve Kretzmann, The Critter.
Two years after his mother’s death, a young gay Jewish artist finds himself caught between a passionate new love affair and a mother who refuses to leave his side. Funny, passionate and sad, The Finkelsteins Are Coming to Dinner explores love, loss, family, Jewish identity and the ties that bind us long after death.
Highlights from the Play
Original Cape Town Production
Andrew Laubscher and Megan Furniss
The Finkelsteins Are Coming to Dinner was first presented as a staged reading at Alexander Bar & Theatre in early 2016 before receiving its premiere production at the Cape Town Fringe Festival and transferring to the Alexander Bar & Theatre for a three-week season later that year.
Directed by Adrian Collins, the production brought together Andrew Laubscher, David Viviers and Megan Furniss in an intimate three-hander exploring grief, love, family and queer romance. Incorporating original artwork by Evan Oberholster, it balanced comedy and emotional depth, earning critical acclaim, two Fleur du Cap Theatre Award nominations and a Fringe Fresh Award for David Viviers’ performance as James.
Cast & Creative Team
Cast
Creative Team
Megan Furniss, David Viviers and Andrew Laubscher
Production Highlights
- Premiered at the Cape Town Fringe Festival (2016)
- Transferred to the Alexander Bar & Theatre for a three-week season
- Two Fleur du Cap Theatre Award nominations
- Fringe Fresh Performer Award recipient David Viviers (James)
- Audience Rating: ★★★★½ (4.48/5 from 102 audience ratings)
Critical Acclaim
“The Finkelsteins is a theatrical gem in which transcendental themes like love, sex and the meaning of life are artfully – and wittily – blended into an intriguing amalgam.”
Cape Argus
“The Finkelsteins Are Coming To Dinner, with its finely wrought idiosyncratic text that retains an innervating sense of mystery even after its overt secret becomes clear, certainly deserves a full house.”
Steve Kretzmann, The Critter
“For its pivotal love scene alone, it is worth going to see what is being cooked up for the Finkelsteins’ visit.”
David Fick, BroadwayWorld
Audience Responses
“The show was achingly funny, meaningful and moving.”
Tamara
“Three lovely performances, one exquisite script.”
Keith
“Perfect – excellent performances and a brilliant, layered and meaningful script that managed to be funny while pulling no punches.”
Rod
“Warm, real, funny. Well written and brilliantly performed by all 3 actors.”
Carolyn
The Collaborating Artist
Painting by Evan Oberholster, featured in the production.
At the centre of The Finkelsteins Are Coming to Dinner is an artist at work.
Throughout the play, Nate paints James – his model, his lover and, increasingly, the focus of his emotional world. The studio becomes a space in which both the paintings and the relationship between Nate and James take shape.
Created by South African artist Evan Oberholster, the paintings seen in the production occupy a unique space between theatre and visual art. Within the world of the play they are Nate’s paintings. Outside the play they exist as independent works by Oberholster.
This relationship between fiction and reality continues beyond the stage in Opening Night, an accompanying exhibition that allows audiences to step into the artistic world of the play. The exhibition extends the experience of The Finkelsteins into the theatre foyer, where the paintings are encountered as artworks in their own right.