Marylebone theatre, London
Two couples have a sour reunion in Patrick Marber’s production of Nathan Englander’s play, updated from his 2011 short story to include events after 7 October

Nathan Englander’s short story, first published in the New Yorker in 2011, tracks four Jews in a room, bitching. The room is Debbie and Phil’s swank Florida kitchen; the other Jews are Debbie’s former schoolfriend and her husband, visiting from Israel. Debbie’s life is now secular, while Lauren became Shoshana and lives ultra-Orthodox in Jerusalem with husband Mark-turned-Yerucham. The reunion swiftly turns sour.

With its nebbish bravura, Englander’s skittish story prodded the unspeakable during the Obama years. We’re in a different place now: director Patrick Marber urged Englander to write this version to reflect the crisis of Jewish identity since 7 October.

At Marylebone theatre, London, until 23 November