THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

Tue 5 - Sat 9 December 2023 at 7.30pm
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Sheep Street, Northampton NN1 3NL

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Review: Plenty to enjoy in this unusual festive offering
John Myhill

Having thoroughly enjoyed Alistair's previous show for Masque (Sleepy Hollow), I was hoping for another good evening's entertainment and for the most part got exactly that.

Alistair has a habit of finding plays that are a little bit different, not the usual fare, and this one was completely unknown to me so it was nice to see Masque taking a risk on something un-Dickensian for the festive season, although the premise is not a million miles away from some of Charlie's ghostly offerings.

The basic story is of Death (in the person of a charming young man) coming to take lead character Julia away when she dies of a stroke on Christmas Eve. She pleads for more time, possibly (it later emerges) to deal with unresolved issues with her children, although one of my issues with the script was that it's never really that clear what Death's motivations are in accepting her offer of enjoying Christmas Day with her family (other than he wants to see a happier side of life), nor is it really that clear what Julia achieves with the extra time other than finally talking on the phone to her third estranged child (and we never find out why they are estranged).

As the lead Toni Clarke carries a lot of the weight of the play and there was another minor issue for me, in that she is supposed to be 72 and really didn't look that old! That aside, Toni was convincingly desperate in her desire to stay alive, and her frustrations with her relatives were nicely comic and moving by turns, although on the night I went she needed (or was given) quite a lot of prompts that did break the spell somewhat.

Sympathy

It was sometimes difficult to decide if Julia was a character deserving of our sympathy, our pity or our contempt as there were a lot of unsaid things about why her relations with her children and wider family were so strained and Toni did well with some occasionally thin material, especially when trying to pretend Death has just missed her fictitious grandchildren.

Rik E Dean as Death (aka Kris Kringle/ Pringle aka Jack Frost!) had a surprisingly much more rounded character to get his teeth into and was charismatic, commanding and charming in the role - he's apparently been away from the theatre for several years and I very much hope he sticks with it this time as he was a pleasure to watch. Even with the aforementioned query over his motivation, he was always amusing and thought provoking, with some lovely interactions with the other cast members, including the impressive feat of building up sexual tension with both Julia's daughter and son.

Julia Fras played the former (Beth) and was convincingly confused by her mother's sudden desire for a family Christmas, and the scenes between her and Death had a nice frisson to them. Jake Turner as the son (Paul) did his best with a largely unrewarding role - his character's attempts at Christmas songs weren't bad enough to be really funny nor good enough to be genuinely moving, but the underlying story of everyone knowing he is gay except him was starting to become interesting when the ending pulled that rug out from
under him and appeared to wipe all that development away.

His fiancée Melissa was well played by Nell Woodward in a small but amusing role, discovering real passion with the unexpected extra guest Matthew, a suicide who Death has brought along for the party, in one of the best performances I've seen from Craig Macpherson who starts morose and depressed and finds a real joi de vivre (thanks to Melissa!) in what turn out to be his final hours. His eventual non-redemption by not being returned to life (having finally found some joy in it) was one of the plot disappointments for
me, but at least the writer was avoiding the clichés.

Good on stage

One couldn't fail to warm to Father Brennan, played winningly by Martin Williams who is always so good on stage that he often doesn't get the credit he deserves for it. The priest had the only accent in the play (an Irish one when the story was so very clearly US set with lots of American references, but not an American accent to be heard, but it was only occasionally jarring to hear the US places and names in English accents, wonder whether it would have been possible to make a few script tweaks to take those out and anglicise the play? Anyway, the priest's fumbling desire for martyrdom was beautifully handled by Martin and Rik and managed to be one of the play's best funny and yet moving moments.

Best of all, though, were the double act of Julia's bigoted and opinionated sister Rosemary and her largely oblivious husband Bernie played with relish by Maggie Holland and Owen Warr in wonderful inappropriately festive matching Christmas jumpers. When Death wasn't around they stole most scenes and were a lovely counterpoint if the play ever got too maudlin or serious!

The set was a nice strong yet simple design, well lit and well used, with
some nice audio touches too. Although I do have some issues with the script and was disappointed by some of the unresolved (or uncomfortably semi-resolved) plot lines at the end, the main ending was both unexpected and well presented, when we at first think Julia has got away with it and is going to live, only for her end to come after all, and Toni did die quite beautifully.

There was plenty to enjoy in this unusual festive offering and strong performances all round.

Review: Plenty to enjoy in this unusual festive offering
Liz Allan

I am one of those hard to please, critical types, so when asked to review the above production I was glad to say I had been pleasantly surprised, the evening I watched.

I even found myself laughing on numerous occasions. Of course any play can be performed but its success mainly depends on the way the actors portray the characters. In this production all roles were adequately cast and performed, but for me, Death played by Rik E Dean (newcomer to Masque) was brilliant with vocals, timing and body language spot on.

The pairing of Owen Warr and Maggie Holland (with matching jumpers) was delightful but with Owen stealing the limelight with every dry wit line uttered. You can't beat experience!

As most of us know, you need a strong voice to be heard in the round of the church. This did not happen at times so dialogue was sometimes lost. Also use the space given to perform so all the audience gets to see and hear you. It is difficult as I know from my own experience. Just something to be aware of in the future. Reach the volume of the" prompt" and you will be fine!

Let's laugh!

The content of the play would not be to everyone's taste, but I believe if you do not know a play then read up on it before you go. Plays need to be performed as they were written and not adapted to suit everyone's principles. If we start doing this then plays will become rather short and possibly boring. The play was written as a comedy. So let's laugh!

The set had a nice Christmas feel with the tree and presents. Just a couple of points which could have helped were Christmas music as a background before the start. The other was a black backdrop was needed so as not to see actors waiting to come on stage when others left through the doors.

All in all a good evening was enjoyed by myself and guests which of course included the festive wine and mince pies. So, congratulations to Alistair and all involved both on and off set. Every-one is an important part of the success of the production.

Preview
Alistair Way | director

It is 1am on Christmas morning. Julia Dowling is about to go to bed when she is visited by a mythical being, Death, who has come to take Julia to the afterlife.

Okay, so it isn’t exactly the Christmas figure everyone would rather come down the chimney.

Julia, trying to save herself, persuades Death to give her an additional day and invites him to a Christmas party, where we witness a family coming together for the holidays, but hijinks aren’t far behind.

This production is directed by Alistair Way who has also directed The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (2023)