Tangram Theatre Company has announced the London premiere of Memoriam, a new play by British-Israeli playwright Noga Flaishon, starring Olivier Award nominee Beverley Klein.
Directed by Tangram Theatre Company Artistic Director Daniel Goldman, the production will run at Southwark Playhouse Borough from 19 October to 21 November 2026, with a press night on 26 October.
Set in the near future, Memoriam imagines a world where a technology company can extract, package and sell people’s memories as fully immersive virtual reality experiences.
Rachel works as a buyer for the company and sees both a professional opportunity and a personal responsibility when her grandmother Rivka becomes the last living Holocaust survivor. What begins as an attempt to preserve a vital piece of history soon develops into a family conflict centred on ownership, ethics, legacy and remembrance.
Beverley Klein will play Rivka, the last surviving witness whose memories become the focus of the play’s central dilemma.
Recently nominated for the 2025 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical for her role as Yente in Fiddler on the Roof, Klein previously appeared as Fraulein Schneider in the award-winning West End production of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club. Her extensive career also includes Indecent, Candide, Romeo and Juliet and the original cast of Les Misérables.
The production arrives at a time when questions surrounding AI, data ownership and the preservation of history are becoming increasingly urgent. As the number of living Holocaust survivors continues to diminish, Memoriam explores who has the right to tell stories of the past and how future generations will remember them.
Noga Flaishon said, “Memoriam was written during the pandemic, but it was also shaped by seeing theatre productions of Jewish stories with no Jewish creatives, the endless stream of Holocaust media centred on gentile protagonists, and the casual appropriation of Holocaust imagery for unrelated causes – not to mention people posing for Instagram in death camps.
“The Holocaust, as uncomfortable as it is to say, is immensely useful on the internet. Give any discussion long enough to run and, as per Godwin’s Law, someone will compare something to the Holocaust. It made me wonder whether the people who want our stories actually want to hear us tell them. As the Holocaust turns a lived memory into history, Memoriam asks what kind of story it will become – and who gets to tell it.
“I chose to explore these questions through Science fiction, as it lets you push those fears to their limit. The humour of the play came almost accidentally, by writing the character with the voices I recognised from my family and community. Humour is an excellent way to deal with trauma… just ask any Jewish family.”
Director Daniel Goldman said, “My Grandma was a Holocaust survivor. She also loved theatre. She saw it as a space for debate, dialogue and understanding, an experience that made us better humans. With anti-Semitism and Holocaust misinformation on the rise, and AI seeping into our lives, it feels vitally important to be directing this deeply moving, very funny new play by Noga about how we remember and what we pass on to those we love.”
Memoriam was one of just five plays selected from 3,000 submissions for the Royal Court Theatre’s Open Submissions Festival in 2025 and has also been shortlisted for the Papatango Playwriting Prize and recognised by the Jewish Playwrights Prize.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
