A wheat field stretches tall on stage at Sydney's Theatre Royal, crimson poppies tucked among the stalks. It's Anatevka, the fictional village in tsarist Russia's Pale of Settlement — now Ukraine — where Tevye the dairyman lives with his wife Golde and their five daughters. But this isn't just historical set-dressing. In a time of rising antisemitism and constant news of displacement, violence and loss, where wheat fields are littered with bombs and burnt stalks and holy lands are besieged by war, the story's melancholic ending remains upsettingly relevant.
The production of Fiddler on the Roof, originally created for London's Regent's Park Open Air Theatre by director Jordan Fein and designed by Tom Scutt, has made its way to Sydney with a superlative cast and a fresh update of the much-loved musical. It features rich characters and dialled-in performances, especially in the portrayal of the women. Troy Sussman plays Tevye, Alexis Fishman is Golde, and their daughters — Tzeitel played by Freya Boltman, Hodel played by Ellen Ebbs, and Chava played by Caity Plummer — make increasingly modern and autonomous choices about who they love and how they want to live.
A Community Under Threat
The musical, based on stories by Sholem Aleichem and written by Joseph Stein, Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock, was the first to play Broadway for more than 3,000 performances. It remains popular more than 60 years after its debut. In this production, news of pogroms in neighbouring villages turns the threat of displacement from an abstract fear into a concrete reality. Change is inevitable and frightening, but love for faith, for each other and for the possibility of creating change together emerges as the strongest thread with which to weave a future.
Tevye is funny and thoughtful, breaking through the barriers of the narrative to talk to God and to the audience about his life, dreams and family. Ben Adler plays the Fiddler, who is close to Tevye in these moments, with sonorous notes that challenge, empathise and ruminate with him. In the second act, when Tevye's thoughts complicate and darken, so too does this musical conscience. Sussman, a musicals veteran who has understudied leads in a number of major productions, is having a much-deserved moment in the spotlight, with an easy physicality and warmth that will likely grow richer and more complex as the run continues.
Women at the Centre
There's a welcome freshness to the production, especially in the women. Boltman, Ebbs and Plummer are fearless and joyfully unique as Tevye's oldest daughters. Boltman and Sussman share a gorgeous parallel in physicality. Ebbs foregrounds Hodel's strength of character even as she falls in love with activist Perchik, played by Maxwell Simon, and there's no question she'll be an active participant in the fight for change when she leaves her family for his side. Plummer's Chava keeps a spine of steel behind her famed sweetness. Golde, the most resistant to change in the family, is beautifully realised by Fishman with a rich and forthright performance.
The local matchmaker, played by Sigrid Thornton, finds a husband for Tzeitel, but Tzeitel loves someone else. Tevye must weigh his love for his daughters against his devotion to tradition. The cast is superlative and welcoming, inviting the audience to lean forward and cheer during the famous bottle dance. Fein and Gary Abrahams, the resident director, have built close character work into the production. Every member of the ensemble is giving a detailed and dialled-in performance that paints a picture of a vibrant and close-knit community, with Thornton and John Waters singled out as community rascals. Musical director Dominic Woodhead leads a loud and nimble band, and additional orchestrations by Mark Aspinall add a layer of poignancy.
A Story That Won't Let Go
The story's melancholic ending, in which a community is forcibly removed from its home and loved ones are separated by unimaginable distance and uncertainty, could hardly be otherwise in the current moment. The production is on at Theatre Royal Sydney until 3 October. It tours to QPAC in Brisbane on 9-25 October, Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne on 31 October to 27 December, and His Majesty's Theatre in Perth from 7-31 January 2027.
Why This Matters:
Fiddler on the Roof has always been a story about community, tradition and the violence of displacement. But this production arrives at a moment when those themes aren't historical curiosities — they're daily headlines. The fictional village of Anatevka sits in what is now Ukraine, where wheat fields have become battlegrounds. Across Europe and the Middle East, communities face forced removal, families are separated by borders and conflict, and the question of who belongs where has become a defining political faultline. A musical about pogroms and exile doesn't need updating to feel urgent. It just needs a cast willing to play the human cost honestly, and a production team willing to let that weight land. This one does both.