★★★★☆
It may look precarious, sawing out a tune in all weathers under wide Russian skies, but Bock, Harnick and Stein’s fiddler, perched on his roof like a figure from a Chagall canvas, has got pretty comfortable up there. The show has remained immensely popular since opening on Broadway in 1964, and Trevor Nunn’s revival — a transfer from the Menier Chocolate Factory in London — amply demonstrates why.
It’s a resonant slice of history — especially in the present climate of resurging antisemitism — and a warm, absorbing folk tale that strikes unerringly at the heart with the timeless simplicity of its themes: home, family, love. Above all, there’s that score: Bock’s lilting melodies perfectly married with Harnick’s nimble lyrics, joy and suffering effortlessly