Theatre Review: Fiddler on the Roof

The lights go up on a wheatfield. A violinist wanders through the grass, playing a haunting melody. Then the entire field rises, to reveal the cast underneath this symbolic ceiling. Yes, it’s Fiddler of the Roof. Before long the famous beats of ‘If I Were a Rich Man’ have the audience yearning to get up on stage and join the hora, a circle dance beloved at East European Jewish celebrations. 

Some context. Sholen Rabinovitz, a famous Yiddish writer, drew upon the real life of a Jewish dairyman in what was then Russia but today is Ukraine. His tales, Tevye’s Daughters, inspired Joseph Stein, Jerry Brock and Sheldon Harnick to create Fiddler on the Roof. It premiered on Broadway in 1964 and the rest, as they say, is history. 

History indeed. Tsarist Russia seems far enough away today to be some fantasy world. And yet, Fiddler has a political message. Trouble is coming. At first no more than rumours, drifting across the golden farmland like a breeze. But by the end of the play, that breeze will become a tornado of hatred, antisemitism, and greed.

But let’s not skip ahead. A lot of the story is taken up with three of those daughters, reaching adulthood and in conflict with their elders. Tradition is a word forever on Tevye’s lips. A recurring motif in the libretto. This honest bear of a man, who when his horse goes lame, pulls his milk-cart himself, clings to tradition as the only certainty in his impoverished life. And it is tradition for the village yente to find suitable bridegrooms for these three girls.

Only the daughters have other ideas, pining after potential suitors who are quite unsuitable in Tevye’s mind. A pauper, a revolutionary, and, worst of all, a gentile. Cue comedy, romance, and some comparisons to the generation gap everywhere in the world.

The cast are excellent. Matthew Woodyatt is spot on as Tevye, a man torn between his faith and his family. There are some breathtaking dance routines, not least, men leaping of tables and landing mid-dance. Although the rest of the songbook may not be as well known as ‘If I Were a Rich Man’ it’s all very tuneful and soulful. The theatregoers were toe-tapping all night.

But, inevitably, the plot is rising to the final confrontation, when Tsarist edicts allow non-Jewish neighbours to seize the Jewish community’s homes, property and violently expel them, with nowhere to go. All around me in the darkened auditorium people were sobbing. The town policeman, a lifelong buddy of Tevye says he is sorry, but, you know, he is only obeying orders.

So there we have it. Antisemitism, Russia or Ukraine, the seizing of territories, all strangely familiar, is it not? In any case, the cast got a standing ovation and they'd earned it. Mazel tov!    

Fiddler on the Roof  plays at The Royal Concert Hall from Tuesday August 19 until Saturday August 23 2025.