THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
Stephen Beresford’s thought-provoking and witty new play, directed by Nicholas Hytner, takes the temperature of the nation, and the Church of England in particular. It is having a two week run in Chichester prior to spending the summer at The Bridge Theatre in London.
It features a star turn by Alex Jennings who brings his usual wry insouciance to the part of David Highland, a vicar in rural Devon, torn between the demand to give people what they want and his deeper urge to give them what he feels they need.
After the tragic death of a local child, a row blows up because the young mother, Tina Southbury (Sarah Twomey), wants the church decked out in balloons for the funeral service as a tribute to her Disney loving daughter. The vicar, who thinks funerals still require some solemnity, sees the request as an affront to the sanctity of the church and its whole history. The ancient chapel he oversees symbolises an ancient conformity and asking him to dispense with the formalities is surely missing the point. Jennings is brilliant as this man swept up in this populist tornado about an issue which, at first, might seem trivial.
Naturally there’s a ‘pile-on’ via Facebook and Mumsnet with calls for him to be removed. Abuse and violence follow. In despair he turns to the Diocese for help who, of course, tell him that they are “grieved” about it all, but don’t back him. A new evangelical church has just opened nearby, peeling away the young and those needing certainty, and this scandal won’t help the C of E brand.
Even the local village police constable (Holly Atkins being dry as dust) cautions him that this could be designated a ‘non-crime hate incident’ you know. Beresford and Hytner have fun with the ‘woke’ pieties as battles lines are firmly drawn but the play does a great job of giving voice to the diverse range of opinions which the row has spawned. He’s warned that “the sands are shifting”.
Beresford deftly explores how much our leaders should act against the express wishes of the mass public - does emotion trump everything else? - and his skill is to craft a group of fully rounded characters who are more than just mere ciphers for debating points. It deals with serious issues but is laced through with a tart humour which is quintessentially English.
David’s case isn’t helped by the fact that he’s both struggling with a drink problem and cheating on his wife. Phoebe Nicholls is heartbreaking as Mary, the stoical wife, a pillar of the parish and of the family, who keeps the show on the road even at the cost of her own fulfilment and sense of self.
Jo Herbert impresses too as the vicar's daughter Susannah, a Verger, who is replicating her mother’s life of devotion to the community and whose eye is turned by the newly arrived curate, Craig. Jack Greenlees makes a big splash as the young, gay, handsome and progressive priest out to make his mark. David’s other daughter Naomi (Racheal Ofori), who was adopted, is a more of a free-spirit. She visits from London and acts as a sort of jaundiced Greek Chorus about the goings on in this tight-knit community. Josh Finan is great too as Lee, the little girl’s uncle, a troubled youth from the village who David takes under his wing.
After a great first Act the piece wobbles for a while into a contrived melodrama that is a bit too schematic but gladly it restores its balance towards the end. Mark Thomas’s solid design of the bustling vicarage kitchen is perfect.
One misstep is a convoluted plot point which results in the funeral party being led in through this kitchen en route to the chapel and the coffin placed on the kitchen table for prayers to be said. For a play which hinges on church propriety this is a very odd choice. The brief religious rite at the end however, and its impact on those gathered, speaks volumes about what David was trying to impart. The purging effect of ritual and rite.
