Any production focusing on the Holocaust has a lot to prove, treading the difficult line between emotiveness and respect. God on Trial, by Frank Cottrell Boyce, poses additional difficulties, as it was originally a screenplay, and as such demands careful adaptation. The piece centres on a group of Jewish men in Auschwitz who decide to put God on trial, for seemingly breaking the covenant he has made with the Jews. Fortunately the cast and crew do the script justice, and the play is moving and accomplished.

The audience is seated amongst the bunks of the camps, and the new prisoners crouch below, creating an uncomfortable yet involving proximity with the atrocity. Simple overhead lighting gives the basic set a brutal bareness, demanding actors to create a sense of place.

Whilst the thread of the legal narrative and the courtroom atmosphere sometimes lapses, the play is carried by moments of individual reflection, and resonant biblical references. Tom Walter, as Schmidt, is convincing as a figure clinging onto faith in the face of unthinkable horror, and David Bonson excels as a dogmatic believer and an exasperated father. The most moving dynamic in the play is clearly his rapport with his son, played ably by Ed Broadhead, which reaches an intensely moving climax at the end of the play.

The script wrestles with questions of religious guilt and persecution, free will, and what it means to be a Jew. After the moving speeches concerning these weighty themes, the dramatic tension sometimes stalls, yet it is swiftly regained as the actors return to intense dialogue. Rebekah-Miron Clayton gives an exceptionally accomplished portrayal of a Polish academic struggling to defend a god who has seemingly forsaken his chosen people, and her account of the siege of Masada is powerful, yet never melodramatic. Yasmin Freeman, as Lieble, has perhaps the most harrowing speech of the play, describing the loss of two sons: she delivers this with aplomb.

The actors respond to each other well, and despite the occasionally fractured scene changes due to the script being designed for film, the plot develops well. This leads into the final two scenes, which are without doubt the finest in the play. Tom Beaven’s performance as Akiba is quite simply exceptional, and brings the whole play up to new heights. Although captivating even without this final touch, Beaven alone makes the play well worth seeing.