Prayer for the French Republic
Opening Night: February 1, 2022
Theater: MTC - Stage I
Website: www.manhattantheatreclub.com
In 1944, a Jewish couple in Paris desperately awaits news of their missing family. More than 70 years later, the couple’s great-grandchildren find themselves facing the same question as their ancestors: “Are we safe?” Following five generations of a French Jewish family, Prayer for the French Republic is a sweeping look at history, home, and the effects of an ancient hatred.
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February 1, 2022
The well of naïve young Americans being schooled in life, love, politics and croissants by effortlessly worldly French people is in no danger of running dry. The latest addition to this cohort is 20-year-old Molly, a New Yorker who has just met her distant cousins in Paris.
Thankfully it is they, not sweet, passive Molly, who are the subjects of “Prayer for the French Republic,” Joshua Harmon’s ambitious and maddening, thought-provoking and schematic new play, directed by David Cromer at Manhattan Theater Club.
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February 1, 2022
It is not tour-de-force showy like the bipolar explosion earlier in the play. This is tour-de-force writing and acting that ties up all the didactic arguments and turns them into art, as well as a wonderfully shared experience.
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February 1, 2022
While the production is top-of-the-line, the play itself leaves something to be desired. The drama crackles, but doesn’t knock the wind out of you as so many of Harmon’s plays have in the past.
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February 1, 2022
At its strongest, the play uses the family’s dilemma as a springboard for larger messy, challenging debates around Jewish personhood. A second act war of words between Molly and Marcelle’s strident daughter Elodie (Francis Benhamou, superb) over Israel is thrilling to take in, and includes a signature Harmon rant-monologue. Even better is the verbal sparring between Marcelle and her aggressively secular brother Patrick (Richard Topol), who dismisses the safety concerns and suggests she simply “draw the curtains and light candles in the dark.”
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February 1, 2022
A multi-generation Jewish family dealing with the legacy of their business told over three hours and three acts on a turn-table set. It’s not The Lehman Trilogy (though the summary also fits), but Joshua Harmon’s latest play, Prayer for the French Republic. Harmon, known for Bad Jews, Significant Other, Admissions, and Skintight, here has hit his stride, expanding his scope and penning his most successful play to date.
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