Slam Frank's Hall of Mirrors
On the Nose
The Play’s Grievance Politics
The panel debates whether Slam Frank resembles Bill Maher, critiques left excesses from within, or centers Jewish reactionary grievance.
Slam Frank—the satirical play about a Latina “Anita Franco” stuck in the attic with a colorblind cast (à la Hamilton) of daft identitarians—reopened last week Off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theatre in Manhattan. While some audience members have reportedly been shocked by its irreverent take on a child hero of the Holocaust, some viewers on both the left and the right are convinced that the play reflects their sensibilities and political leanings. The play’s author, Andrew Fox, has declined to say anything about his personal politics, but touchstone books of Jewish reactionary grievance like David Baddiel’s Jews Don’t Count and Dara Horn’s People Love Dead Jews are part of the show’s dramaturgy.
On this episode of On the Nose, Arielle Angel talks to theater critic Alisa Solomon and New York Times columnist M. Gessen about their differing interpretations of the play. The three argue about what the play actually intends to say about the contemporary left, whether the playwright’s own political leanings matter to the read of the play itself, and whether the proliferation of interpretations is a feat or a liability.
Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for editing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”
Links and Further Reading
“‘Slam Frank,’ a Daring Satire, and ‘Crooked Cross’ Demand Our Attention,” Laura Collins-Hughes, The New York Times
“The Composer Making a Hip-Hop Musical About Anne Frank,” Kelefa Sanneh, The New Yorker
Information on Gazi Kodzo, the author of the original “Anne Frank/white privilege” tweet
Jews Don’t Count by David Baddiel, People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn, and a Jewish Currents review of both books by Linda Kinstler
“Actress Dasha Nekrasova Fired By Gersh, Dropped From Movie Amid Backlash Over Podcast Interview With Far-Right Political Commentator Nick Fuentes,” Matt Grobar, Deadline
Slam Frank reviews in the Times of Israel and the Jewish Journal
“Springtime for Hitler,” The Producers
Slam Frank’s Bondi post and Andrew Fox’s apology
“Campus Politics Takes the Stage in ‘The Ally,’” On the Nose, Jewish Currents
“Anne Frank, the Exhibition” at the Center for Jewish History
“Nosegate,” On the Nose, Jewish Currents
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