Bad Jews at the Arts Theatre reviewed: strange, raw, obsessive and brilliant

Bad Jews has completed its long trek from a smallish out-of-town venue to a full-scale West End berth. Billed as a ‘hilarious’ family comedy it opens on a low-key note in a New York apartment where three cousins have gathered for grandpa’s funeral. Daphna is a puritanical vegan Jewess, training as a rabbi, who wants to move to Israel, marry a soldier and serve in the IDF. She’s insanely jealous of Jonah and Shlomo, whose parents have bought them a flat before either has found a job. Shlomo (who calls himself Liam) is a ‘bad Jew’ obsessed with Japanese culture who intends to marry out. He shows up at midnight having missed the funeral because he was in Aspen, ski-ing (a conspicuously unJewish activity), with his blonde girlfriend Melody who has lovely curves, German grandparents and virtually no brainpower. Daphna instantly launches an all-out assault, disguised as friendly curiosity, and accuses Melody of carrying the genes of murdering Teutons who slew native Americans in untold numbers.