The Almeida Theatre in Islington is currently staging the second play from the highly acclaimed writer Sam Grabiner. Titled 'Christmas Day', this darkly comic production runs from 17 December 2025 to 8 January 2026 and offers a fearless, idiosyncratic look at a London Jewish family's unconventional festive gathering.
A Dysfunctional Family Gathering
Following his Olivier-winning debut 'Boys on the Verge of Tears', Grabiner presents a jaw-droppingly dysfunctional family drama. Directed by James Macdonald, the play begins as a bewildered father, Elliot (played by Nigel Lindsay), arrives at the chaotic office conversion home of his adult children. His son Noah (Samuel Blenkin) and daughter Tamara (Bel Powley) share the space with ten other housemates, most of whom have left for the holidays.
The setting is immediately marked by an odd, spectacularly unwise industrial heater suspended from the ceiling, which roars to life periodically. The nominal reason for the gathering is a dinner, specifically a Chinese takeaway in imitation of a New York Jewish tradition. However, as with the best dinner-party plays, secrets and revelations soon take centre stage.
The cast is joined by Noah's sweet, non-Jewish girlfriend Maud (Callie Cooke) and Tamara's slick ex-boyfriend Aaron (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd), who has returned from a stint in Tel Aviv. Adding to the chaotic atmosphere is a random housemate, Wren (Jamie Ankrah), who appears too intoxicated to have vacated the premises.
Exploring Fractured Identity and Politics
While not solely about the British Jewish experience, Grabiner's play delves deeply into questions of identity. It presents an anarchic meditation on the British Jewish psyche, exploring the allure of other places in lieu of a cohesive domestic identity. Elliot is fixated on New York, Aaron on Tel Aviv, and Tamara on fringe ancient spirituality, leaving the question of what British Jewishness actually means deliberately unanswered.
The writing deftly handles the group's disharmony over Israel and its actions in Gaza. The subject simmers beneath the surface before erupting in fiery, uncontrollable debates. The characters represent a spectrum of views: Tamara holds a liberal, critical stance, while Aaron and Elliot take a hard, often unpleasant opposite position. Noah, consumed by broader existential angst, characteristically dithers on the sidelines.
This political faultline is one of many in a drama illustrating how British Jewish identity can be hopelessly fractured, defined not just by 'British' and 'Jewish' but by a thousand sub-identities within.
A Compelling, if Flawed, Production
The texture of Grabiner's play is fascinating, though the critic notes it builds to a somewhat soapy, 'EastEnders'-style climax that feels crude compared to the nuanced build-up. Director James Macdonald excels at creating a sense of 'creeping strangeness', with his team brilliantly animating the odd, groaning building. However, his arty sensibilities occasionally box in a show that might benefit from playing as a broader dark comedy.
Nevertheless, Macdonald has assembled a superb cast. Nigel Lindsay, Samuel Blenkin, and Bel Powley are particularly outstanding as the central family unit, their livewire dynamic arcing from amusingly competitive quizzes to horrifying political opinions in microseconds.
While the play will likely speak most directly to a British Jewish audience, its depiction of a Christmas Day lunch spinning horribly out of control is—with intentional irony—a universally British concept.
'Christmas Day' runs for 1 hour and 50 minutes with no interval. Tickets are priced between £27.50 and £55. Performances continue at the Almeida Theatre on Almeida Street, Islington, with easy access via Highbury & Islington station, until 8 January 2026.
