Written By
Laurence Marks & Maurice Gran
This production is by arrangement with Stagescripts Ltd.
Where and When
Thursday 19th – Saturday 21st February 2026
Evenings 7.30pm + Saturday Matinee 2.30pm
Online Ticket £20.35 eve / £18.15 Matinee (includes £1.85/£1 .65 online booking fee)
Box Office Ticket £18.50 eve / £16.50 Matinee
1 in 10 free all performances (available via Box Office only)
The Plot
This play isn’t true, but the watch is. In 1985 Laurence Marks was working in Hollywood and during some free time went window shopping. In one window he saw a very elegant Art Deco wristwatch, so he treated himself.
Two decades later, when the pre-war watch started losing time, he took it to a repairer. A few weeks later the jeweller phoned up. Oddly, he wanted to know whether the watch was a family heirloom? When Laurence said it wasn’t, the jeweller said: “In that case come to the shop. I think there’s something you should see.”
Laurence called in and the jeweller gave him his eyeglass to look through. Engraved on the inside back of the watch were the initials ‘JVR’ above a neat little swastika. JVR could only mean Joachim Von Ribbentrop, Hitler’s Foreign Minister.
Sotheby’s confirmed this and said it would fetch a great deal at auction. Laurence was tempted to sell it but made the mistake of telling Maurice Gran, who said: “How can you possibly profit from a Nazi watch?” After a long philosophical debate, they decided there was only one thing to do; write a play about this very dilemma. ‘Von Ribbentrop’s Watch’ is that play
The protagonist, Gerald Roth, is a struggling wine merchant. To save his bacon he’s started selling assets. His watch is an antique, it’s gold, maybe it’ll pay for a month’s rent on his shop. When Gerald learns the watch once belonged to Von Ribbentrop, he realises he could put into auction and solve all his money problems, as long as his family doesn’t find out, because his jealous brother, overbearing mother, and pious wife would never speak to him again. The problem is that the family have gathered for the annual Passover dinner, and somehow his brother has got his hands on the valuation letter from Sotheby’s.
Cast
- To be confirmed
Creative Team
- Director – Paul Senitt