King of the Jews NYC Reviews and Tickets

85%

(75 Ratings)

Positive

91%

Mixed

Negative

Members say

Absorbing, Thought-provoking, Ambitious, Great acting, Great staging

About the Show

In a WWII ghetto, a group of Jewish citizens face moral dilemmas and unimaginable choices.

During an evening past curfew at the Astoria Café, a cluster of staff and performers, accompanied by a few rabbis, is compelled by the German occupiers to establish a Judenrat—a self-governing group of Jews tasked with governing and determining the fates of their fellow Jews within the surrounding ghetto. In the first act, they endure a harrowing process to select their Elder, inspired by Chaim Rumkowski, the leader of the Lodz Ghetto in Poland. Later, in the second act, they grapple with a profound moral quandary: deciding who lives and dies in their community. It's a choice no human should make, especially in a world still tethered to moral sanity. Yet, they must. Amidst the chaos, deceit, and even moments of levity, we accompany these ordinary individuals as they confront the unfathomable depths thrust upon them by history.

Show-Score Member Reviews (28)

100

Powerful, Ambitious, Entertaining, Clever, Absorbing

See it if Incredible moving show, not go be missed, best show I have seen in years and I see everything.

Don't see it if Just go , so powerful.

Profound, Great staging, Thought-provoking, Intense, Absorbing

See it if You want a powerful, serious play examining moral questions in the face of human cruelty

Don't see it if You don’t like holocaust or historical shows that are on the depressing side

Profound, Relevant, Intelligent, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if Powerful & moving play on the holocaust staged within the audience. Excellent directing, script & acting.

Don't see it if No negative comments.

Thought-provoking, Riveting, Intelligent, Great acting

See it if You enjoy interactive plays that make you feel like you are in the middle of the action

Don't see it if You are expecting a happy musical.

Thought-provoking, Relevant, Great acting, Ambitious, Absorbing

See it if You are interested in great ensemble acting and a powerful, totally relevent play about ghettoized Jews during the Holocaust.

Don't see it if Unfortunately is closing tmrw (Saturday)

Great staging, Thought-provoking, Intelligent, Relevant, Riveting

See it if You want a deeply moving powerful play about how brutality can bring man to the brink. Harsh reality, terribly current

Don't see it if You don’t like small venues or plays about the Holocaust

Thought-provoking, Intelligent, Great acting, Great staging, Absorbing

See it if U want2go back2 a 1930s cabaret where this gut-wrenching play takes place&where u can mix w the cast,sitting@tables.Grt perf, script&stage.

Don't see it if Set in Nazi-occupied Poland&centered around the Judenrat, the show has some disturbing moments. Yet, now more than ever it reminds us of* Read more

Slow, Thought-provoking, Resonant, Great staging, Great acting

See it if You are interested in the history of the Holocaust

Don't see it if You dislike upsetting, depressing stories, and are offended by nudity (very brief full frontal nudity). Read more

Critic Reviews (7)

"It's a rule of thumb that accomplished novelists rarely make successful playwrights -- the dishonor roll includes Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Faulkner, Bellow, Heller, and William F. Buckley -- which makes it all the more remarkable that Epstein has distilled his book, with its crowded cast and large-scale sequences, into a taut two-act drama. If the stage version of King of the Jews isn't as rich an experience, it is tense and suspenseful, moving ruthlessly toward its dismaying finale while vigorously wrestling with an unresolvable dilemma forced on the characters by history."
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"As an ensemble piece, carefully directed by Alexandra Aron to highlight the nuances, King of the Jews works extremely well in examining the moral ambiguity of those caught in a trap from which there can be no escape. "
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How does a Holocaust-themed play land with such emotional impact as Leslie Epstein’s "King of the Jews" at the HERE Theatre? Based on his novel of the same name, "King of the Jews" is a searing, eye-opening glimpse of a dark period in world history. Set in the formerly elegant Astoria Café in 1939 and 1941 Poland, "King of the Jews" turns the employees and customers into a microcosm of Jewish society, a community being crushed under the boots of the invading Nazis. These trapped Jews emerge as real people. As the eleven p.m. curfew, enforced by Gestapo goons, approaches, they each react in their own way.
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a Holocaust-set play at HERE that is inventively staged and well-acted, but both intentionally and unintentionally disturbing… When its characters explore their moral dilemma, “King of the Jews” is at its most nuanced and most engaging… [but the debate is] overshadowed by some superficial character portraits.
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Leslie Epstein’s 1979 novel was adapted by him in 2007 for the stage. His compelling scenario is based on historical facts; with their vaunted preoccupation with efficiency, the Germans instigated Jewish self-governing ghetto councils. This searing production dramatizes European Jewish collaboration with the Germans during the Holocaust, this immersive presentation is set in a bustling Polish café with the audience seated at cabaret-style tables and chairs.
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Director Alexandra Aron’s immersive staging is powerful and hard-hitting, but, alas, the narrative, despite a strong start, can’t quite live up to its promise.
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“ ‘King of the Jews’ focuses on people trapped into making impossible decisions and the difficulty in ordinary people judging those living through extraordinary experiences. Aron, the technicians, and the cast have so artfully embodied Epstein’s treatment of complex issues that it’s clear that such judgments are both infeasible and unfair.”
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Trailer

Creative team