Edward Mercieca makes for a perfect Tevye in this adaptation of the beloved musical.

Theatre
Fiddler on the Roof
Manoel Theatre

Staging a musical is a brave move, fraught with double the production headaches and logistics which make theatre such an eventful and colourful sphere of work.

As far as 50th anniversary shows go, FM Theatre Productions made a very wise and popular choice indeed when they went for Fiddler on the Roof. Based on Sholem Aleichem’s short stories, with book by Joseph Stein and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and music by Jerry Bock, Fiddler on the Roof has Tevye (Edward Mercieca) as narrator, telling the audience his personal and his people’s story in song, occasionally breaking the fourth wall, and often falling back into an ordinary narrative where his character falls in with the rest of the story.

Starting with Tevye and his wife Golde (Pia Zammit), director Chris Gatt’s casting was spot on. I could not have imagined a better coupling than this pair of seasoned actors to play the roles of the patriarch and matriarch of a large family with five daughters. Together they managed to put across the poignancy of the Jewish diaspora of the early 20th century and the changing times calling for a break in tradition, extremely well.

Mercieca and Zammit’s good singing voices were supported by their great sense of characterisation and sensitivity to the conundrum that these people lived with – borderline poverty and the resignation to their fate, taking life in their stride and keeping humour by their side. With numbers like Tradition and The Dream exposing both the strength of the ensemble and individual cast members’ talent, the stage came alive with a Jewish way of life, which has striking similarities with the Maltese one.

The trouble really starts when Yente (Julie James) the matchmaker, orchestrates a match between Tevye and Golda’s eldest daughter Tzeitel (Maxine Aquilina) and the wealthy butcher, Lazar Wolf (Mikhail Basmadjian, in good form). Both parents agree and choose to marry her off unbeknown to her.

The stage came alive with a Jewish way of life, which has striking similarities with the Maltese one

Meanwhile, Tzeitel and her sisters Hodel (Analise Cassar) and Chava (India Raniolo) sing about their desire to find love and not just a match of convenience in Matchmaker – a song filled with the hope and fears of youth.

These three new up-and-coming actors had the energy and sweetness required of the roles and also the depth that their individual stories called for.

Tzeitel’s true love interest, the poor tailor Motel (Sean Borg), finally plucks up the courage to ask her father for his permission and blessing after he hears of the match Yente makes and thus sparks the first break from tradition as the kindly and wise Tevye gives his consent.

From this stage onwards, having previously celebrated To Life with Wolf and his drinking buddies at the tavern, Tevye realises that he has to break the news to his wife and tell her that their daughter will not be marrying the rich butcher, but the poor tailor. Thus, the funny visions he invents for Golde in The Dream, where he uses Wolf’s deceased first wife Fruma Sarah (Cathy Lawlor) as an excuse to show Golde that the match isn’t right, lead to the first love-marriage in the village of Anatevka.

By this time, Hodel has also fallen in love with the radical student Perchik (Peter Farrugia), who has been staying with her family, and opens her eyes to the greater world beyond the village and what may be out there.

Following the first clear show of forced anti-semitic violence at Tzeitel and Motel’s wedding, Hodel and Perchik promise themselves to each other and ask for Tevye’s blessing, which is duly given, if rather apprehensively.

The last match is between Chava and Fyedka (Joseph Zammit), who elope; and this is where Tevye puts his foot down and denies a blessing, since Fyedka is not only a gentile, meaning that Chava is marrying outside the faith, but because Fyedka is a Russian soldier, whom the Jews of Anatevka see as the violent emissaries of the Tsar who want to run them out of house and home.

Their reconciliation is hinted at in the end, when they all go their separate ways following the eviction of the Jews from their village, marking one last great break from tradition.

Borg’s (Motel) chemistry with Aquilina (Tzeitel) was evident; as was Cassar’s earnest Hodel with Farrugia’s Perchik, although I did find the latter occasionally distant in his approach.

I particularly enjoyed James’s Yente and Zammit’s Fyedka, in spite of his short role, as he still managed to connect with Raniolo’s bookish but spirited Chava very well.

The set design, in the able hands of Romualdo Moretti, was beautifully and simply done, in wooden off-cuts which gave it a raw look. It was complimented by Gatt’s lighting, especially in scenes where Reggie Clews’s Fiddler appears on the roof of Tevye’s house, in the hauntingly beautiful Sabbath Prayer and in Sunrise Sunset and Anatevka.

With musical direction under Kris Spiteri, choreography by Mariza Baldacchino and vocal coaching by Cathy Lawlor, the ensemble was pleasantly clear at all times and timing was spot on, making for a slick and tight performance.

Fiddler on the Roof is a musical which maximises its cast and relies on the ensemble to evoke the particular societal trials which these people experienced and internalised as part of their cultural baggage, making them essential to their raison d’être and to their darkly humorous outlook on life.

FM Theatre have a winner on their hands with this incredibly entertaining production.

• Fiddler on the Roof is also being staged at the Manoel Theatre on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 8pm.