The reviews are in for Memoriam, Noga Flaishon’s Papatango-shortlisted play, which opened at Southwark Playhouse Borough on 26 October and runs until 21 November. Directed in the round by Daniel Goldman, it imagines a near future in which a tech company extracts people’s memories and sells them as virtual-reality experiences, and follows Rachel (Rachel Barry) as she tries to persuade her grandmother Rivka (Beverley Klein), the last living Holocaust survivor, to sell her memories of Auschwitz. Klein is singled out in nearly every notice. Opinion on the play itself ranges from five-star praise for its ideas to complaints about exposition, sibling squabbling and lines lost to the in-the-round staging.
3.9 / 5 from 11 criticsThe verdict: twelve reviews in, eleven of them with a rating: three five-star notices, three at four stars, a 3.5 from The Reviews Hub and four at three stars, for an average of 3.9 out of 5. Jewish News gives no rating. Beverley Klein’s Rivka is praised almost everywhere; the split is over whether the script and the in-the-round staging do justice to its premise.
What are critics saying about Memoriam?
All That Dazzles
“A haunting exploration of memory and Holocaust history, challenging us to question the ethics of technology and who owns our past”
Reviewer: Ruth Sealey
Sealey found that the 1 hour 45 minutes held her throughout. She praises the way the play sets a young mother’s edited childbirth memory against Rivka’s story, and the use of the round, including a moment where Klein steps down among the audience.
“This balance of humour and heartbreak, alongside the skilful interweaving of the storylines, makes Flaishon’s writing exceptional”
View from the Gods
“Klein’s glinting performance, full of humour and wit, is also brilliantly equivocal”
Reviewer: Simon Jenner
Jenner admires how the play keeps its corporate satire as a frame around the harder questions of how memory is passed on and distorted. He praises Ellie Wintour’s set and Jonathan Chan’s lighting, and the whole cast, Barry and Klein above all.
“Flaishon’s brilliance here is to ask these within an envelope of exploitation”
The same review also appears on FringeReview.
Read About Stuff
“A deeply moving and thought-provoking production”
A five-star notice that calls the play remarkably mature. The reviewer finds the sale of memory all too believable, and singles out the scene in which grandmother and granddaughter share the same Auschwitz memory, as well as the side story of the edited childbirth.
“What is immediately striking about Flaishon’s script is how worryingly authentic, and likely, the sale of memory feels.”
West End Best Friend
“A searing look at memory, commodification and the stories we pass on”
Reviewer: Brian Penn
Penn calls the play cleverly built around two questions: the ethics of memory-extraction technology and how remembrance should work. He finds it uncomfortable in the right way, and says the cast are excellent, with Klein standing out as Rivka.
“Memoriam is the definition of challenging and thought provoking theatre. It’s not an easy watch”
LondonTheatre1
“Intriguing and engaging”
Reviewer: Chris Omaweng
Omaweng enjoyed a subplot about how older people are treated more than the main debate, and found Rivka’s view the easiest to share. The in-the-round staging did not always work for him, with actors seated facing away from parts of the audience.
“there are some substantial moral and ethical questions raised in this intriguing and engaging production.”
Plays To See
“It is the holocaust survivor who gets all the laughs”
Reviewer: Jad Adams
Adams praises the subtlety of a script that keeps the cruelty of Rivka’s past largely unspoken, and Klein’s commanding performance. He also enjoys the sibling rivalry and the oily company boss, and congratulates the team for taking on a difficult subject.
“Memoriam makes a compelling family drama of the genuine conundrum of how to keep history alive”
The Reviews Hub
“Ownership of memory”
Reviewer: Clare Doyle
Doyle finds the premise fascinating and the questions about memory and ownership timely. She thinks the messaging gets repetitive and the explanations of the technology dry, but credits the warmth between the siblings and the humour Goldman works in.
“Noga Flaishon’s play is brimming with ideas, using a fascinating premise to explore a range of themes”
BroadwayWorld
“This debut play explores the role technology can play in Holocaust memory”
Reviewer: Clementine Scott
Scott rates Klein’s Rivka as by far the most convincing character and the Passover arguments as the play’s strongest writing. She finds the humour leans on stereotype, the set sterile, and the corporate jargon a drain on the emotion.
“Flaishon writes fraught family conflict better than she writes technological satire”
London Box Office
“A contentious and thought-provoking element”
Reviewer: Stuart King
King finds the idea of editing a survivor’s memories for consumers deliberately crass, and says Rivka’s wish to leave the past behind proved the more compelling argument for him. He notes some vocal and technical problems on press night.
“the ever watchable Beverley Klein manages to command attention whenever she is on stage”
Theatre and Tonic
“A thought-provoking exploration of how we preserve the past”
Reviewer: Annie
Annie found the science-fiction opening on the nose, but the play grew into a stronger family drama. She thinks the script labours its points, and that the staging in the round costs the quiet scenes their dialogue, while praising Jonathan Chan’s lighting.
“Beverly Klein delivers the standout performance as Rivka, bringing a remarkable sense of emotional understanding and care to the role.”
The Spy in the Stalls
“Intriguing and thought provoking”
Reviewer: Jonathan Evans
Evans finds the issues handled smartly even if the writing never probes too deeply, and says the play is at its best when the technology is set aside for a face-to-face scene. He also lost lines, an opening monologue included, to the round.
“Klein’s performance of Rivka holds the piece together with a genuine and touching portrayal of the matriarch”
Jewish News
“There is food for thought in this finely performed, but somewhat haphazard tale.”
Reviewer: Jonathan Baz
Jewish News publishes no star rating. Baz thinks the commercial angle turns a potentially fascinating idea into a parable about capitalism, and finds some characters two-dimensional, but praises the cast, Klein above all.
“Delivering a magnificent performance, Beverley Klein is Rivka, the 92-year-old survivor.”
Production photographs by Charlie Flint.
For more from Southwark Playhouse Borough this autumn, read our roundup of Dog Mom, and our earlier news on the full cast of Memoriam.
Memoriam is running at Southwark Playhouse Borough until 21 November 2026.
For more information, visit the official website.
