Wits End, a new comedy by Estée Stimler, will have its world premiere at Circle & Star Theatre in Hampstead from 9-22 November 2026, directed by the venue's artistic director, Steve Furst.
Wits End is billed as a comedy about death. Justin Bovington presents the play, which is written by Estée Stimler and directed by Steve Furst, with the support of Tsitsit fringe. It runs at Circle & Star Theatre, 28 Heath Street, Hampstead, London NW3 6TE, from 9-22 November 2026. Press night is 11 November.
The story takes place on the afternoon Marvin Becker is buried. His three children have a few hours to get him into the ground, and years of grievance between them. Yitzy spent fourteen years caring for their father, giving up a scholarship and a career to do it. Cooper, living three thousand miles away, covered the bills and never once came to see him. Denise, the middle sibling, has a view on both brothers and does not keep it quiet. Also at the graveside are an aunt who has been talking without a break since 1961 and a rabbi found on the internet who also works as a comedian. The eulogy gets the names wrong, and the grave is not the right size.
The company is David Boyle as Rabbi Horowitz, Sue Kelvin as Aunt Phyllis, Leah Marks as Denise, Daniel Lipton as Yitzy and Shai Forester as Cooper. The theatre has 55 seats, and the audience plays the funeral congregation.
The play deals with family rivalry, grief and loss, and with the pull between religious tradition and modern life. Steve Furst said: “There’s something wonderfully Jewish about finding humour in the most difficult and inappropriate situations, and Wit's End does exactly that. It’s a very funny play about a family who have spent years avoiding saying what they really think about each other, only for everything to come spilling out at the worst possible moment. Estée has written something that is sharp, irreverent and at times gloriously uncomfortable, but underneath all the comedy there’s a great deal of heart. I think audiences will recognise a lot of their own families in the Beckers, whether they want to or not.”
Stimler was born in New York and has lived in London for 37 years. She spent more than twenty years as a speechwriter for corporate executives, politicians and private clients, and also worked as a comedy consultant; a speech of hers ended up on a plaque handed to US President Bill Clinton in the Oval Office. She writes plays, musicals and animation, and is currently a dramaturg on new musicals. She is a Full Member of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain, holds an MA with Distinction in Writing Musical Theatre from Goldsmiths, University of London, and is now working on a PhD there into how comedy works in musical theatre.
Furst is best known as the lounge singer Lenny Beige, who played the Regency Rooms for ten seasons and fronted two series on BBC Choice. His stage roles include Mr Wormwood in Matilda The Musical, Shylock in Something Rotten! at Drury Lane and Fagin in Oliver! at Leeds Playhouse, and on television he appeared in each of the three series of Little Britain. His solo show Fagin — Hero or Villain? won an Offies Assessors’ Choice.
He co-founded Circle & Star with Bovington, and the theatre opened in December 2025. It has its own street entrance, a short walk from Hampstead station on the Northern line, and its programme of new plays, solo shows, cabaret and salons runs under three strands: VOICES, STORIES and STAGES. The theatre expects to give 170 performances to more than 5,000 people across 2026.
Performances are at 7.30pm Monday to Saturday, with no show on Monday 16 November, and there are 3pm matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are £25, and the production is recommended for ages 18 and over.
