theatre feature

Best Of Brighton: musical fringe chronicles

Part music, part theatre, but with some comedy thrown in too, ThreeWeeks throws some questions at Daniel Cainer

TW: Tell us about the show?

DC: ‘Jewish Chronicles’ is a collection of stories in song. They’re about characters I’ve made up, and ones that I’ve discovered whilst examining my roots. Some are about specific events in history. And some are just about stuff that’s happened to me! I’ve always written topical songs. Though in this case the “topic” is Jews – and they come in all shapes and sizes, including mine!

I’m not religious, in fact I’ve lived a completely secular life since my early teens. It’s only now since I’ve been having a sort of mid-life kosher crisis that I’ve realised that my story is connected to all these stories in the past and that has informed so much of who I am, what I do and how and why I do it.

I didn’t sit down with a particular aim - and I certainly wouldn’t have chosen this theme deliberately – but the material is compelling and it feels more theatrical than a straight concert. Of course I don’t act, or dance, or juggle or swing from a flying trapeze. Or rather, I do... but I do it in words and music.


TW: The show combines music and storytelling - is there a story that runs through the whole show?

DC: The single story that runs through it really is my own. But each song illuminates a different kind of experience and stands on by itself. That doesn’t mean though, that you can just turn up late and walk in whenever you want. What do you think this is, a hotel?

Alan Bennett recently wrote me a very nice endorsement that referred to my “stories within stories”. And yes there are sub-plots and through lines and twists in the very strong narratives of my songs but I think he may also have been referring to the “back story” or the true story or the parallel story. That which gives this material its universal appeal – we recognise ourselves in it even though it’s not necessarily about us.

The theme that runs through the show is about finding your place in the world. We all feel in some way like outsiders looking into another world where we don’t quite feel we belong - or insiders looking out.


TW: The show “delves into what it means to be Jewish” – does it matter if audience members have no previous personal experience of the Jewish community?

DC: In short: no! Do you have to be Jewish to enjoy Levy’s Rye Bread? Or ‘Fiddler On The Roof’? Or Woody Allen? Or ‘Seinfeld’? Enough already! I’ve played this material to all kinds of audiences, though admittedly not in any mosques. Actually a predominantly Jewish audience is sometimes trickier because, although they may empathise more with certain references, there are always a number of people at the end offering their suggestions about how they might improve it. And they all contradict each other. And they are all convinced they’re right.


TW: You regularly write new songs with a topical theme - do you plan to write new songs during August?

DC: Well, I’ll be chopping and changing the set a bit anyway – I usually run at over an hour and half so condensing into the Edinburgh format will mean more of the songs and less of the chat. If I’m moved to write something new then I’ll fit it in. For example I’ve got a funny piece on the banjo about the MP’s expenses scandal and the credit crunch which I will still do – even though its a bit erm... off message! So if there’s some big story or if I need to comment about another difficult situation in the Middle East – I will!


TW: Your show is definitely funny at times - do you consider yourself a comedian in any way?

DC: Make em laugh - make em cry. It’s a Jewish tradition. If I’m a comedian then its not like a stand-up where the expectation is a laugh every 30 seconds. I write serious songs that happen to be funny.


What ThreeWeeks in Brighton said about Dan Cainer: “Frank without controversy, personal without confrontation, Cainer has impressive vocal, musical and emotional range. He’s warm, open, intimate, funny, as well as timely, exploring Jewishness in a turbulent 21st century”.


Jewish Chronicles, Sweet Grassmarket, 6 - 31 Aug (not 17), 2.00pm (2.50pm), £8.00 (£7.00), fpp 203.

published: Aug-2009

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