The Wanderers review

The play highlights the power of words on a page: from forbidden books in the Hasidic community to Abe’s emotional affair over email. Marion Williams’ set, a massive wall of open books, amplifies this. But there are cracks in this edifice of writing, which light up, exposing the gaps in what otherwise looks solid. It’s an effective metaphor for the relationships, which are shaped by the words spoken and the meaning between the lines, and further illustrates the outward illusion of something stable but fractured. It is in these fissures that the drama lies. But because many of the conversations here are digital, the staging can be repetitive and lacking in energy, with Abe and Julia addressing the audience or their computers rather than each other.

Thomas excels at conveying the funny, verbose, neurotic side of Abe, but his smart-ass attitude needs a little more charisma and charm for balance. Holmes, costumed by David Israel Reynoso in cream-coloured palazzo pants, sashays comfortably into the role of Abe’s perfect woman with breezy, character-appropriate Hollywood poise. Cooper does what she can with her largely reactive but structurally important role. Freyer’s quiet fortitude makes Esther’s painful path heartbreaking; and Klasko is touching as the gentle, befuddled Schmuli, who is so afraid of the things he does not know.

While the focus is often on Abe, above all, Ziegler carefully addresses the pressures these women carry as they navigate faith, identity, family, careers and their desires.