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The Last Noël

Merton Arts Space

Reviewed – 28th November 2019

★★★★

“a wholesome tale filled with festive spirit”

The Last Noël is a play that feels cosy and comforting from the get go. Before the main event starts, viewers are offered a biscuit and asked to join in a rousing carol to set the mood. The atmosphere here is clear – welcome to a familiar and festive world for the next hour or so.

The story revolves (as you could argue most people’s Christmases do) around relatives gathering together over unnecessary amounts of food and drink. Our trio of characters make up three generations of the same family, each bringing their own quirks to the table. Alice (played with immense charm by Annie Wensak) is the effervescently kind matriarch – keeper of the feast, and the rules. She is joined by her son Mike (Dyfrig Morris), prone to jokes and light-hearted bickering, who is uncle to Tess (Anna Crichlow) – a returning uni student seeking to make her way in the world.

United by memories, merriment, and the anticipation of the holiday season, the three await the arrival of Tess’s parents, who are both busy healthcare workers, and tell stories to pass the time. While at first the script and its jokes (Chris Bush) are perhaps a bit reliant on hackneyed observations and generational clichés – grandma doesn’t understand Twitter, aren’t Stag Dos silly, etc. – the humour warms up as the play gets going and there are some genuinely funny moments. And it is clear that the humour and references are intended to be kept simple and universal, to be enjoyed by a variety of age groups.

Punctuating the action are a few musical flourishes performed by musical director Matt Winkworth on the keyboard. The actors sometimes perform full length songs (again written by Chris Bush) or snippets of Christmas favourites with adapted lyrics, all woven fairly seamlessly into the dialogue. While none of these stand out on their own, they wrap the whole performance in a joyful atmosphere. The setting is in the round and director Jonathan Humphreys and movement director Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Foster work well with this, making it reminiscent of the traditional storytelling methods of old, when people would have gathered around hearths. As each character puts their own spin on recognisable tales, they bring more emotional depth to the play than might at first have been expected.

For some it might be oversentimental – and the themes and the content can hardly be called radically original – but it is hard to rate a show badly when it oozes so much warmth. All in all, The Last Noël is a wholesome tale filled with festive spirit.

Reviewed by Vicky Richards

The Last Noël

Merton Arts Space until 1st December

Other reviews by Vicky Richards:

Vice | ★★½ | Etcetera Theatre | July 2019

The Starship Osiris | ★★★★★ | Soho Theatre | August 2019

Call Me Fury | ★★★ | Hope Theatre | September 2019

The Strange Case Of Jekyll & Hyde | ★★★★★ | Jack Studio Theatre | September 2019

Zeus On The Loose | ★★½ | Fire | September 2019

Edred, The Vampyre | ★★★½ | Old Red Lion Theatre | October 2019

The Girl Who Fell | ★★★★ | Trafalgar Studios | October 2019

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★★★½

“The musical element of the production is excellent and really complements the movement and dialogue performed”

One grandfather, one granddaughter, originally from Tel Aviv. The grandfather is suffering from Alzheimer’s and can’t seem to remember where home is, whereas the granddaughter’s UK visa is near expiration, meaning she is uncertain of where to call home. Althea Theatre’s Jericho’s Rose explores what happens when two generations struggle to work out where they belong in the world.

When the audience first enters the small performance space, Lilac Yosiphon (performer, as well as writer and co-director) is already on stage. She is walking around the space with a suitcase and passport, as if confused and unsure of her destination. We are immediately engaged and curious as to how her story is going to unfold.

Yosiphon takes on the role of the granddaughter, Jasmine, and grandfather, switching between the two quite seamlessly, with the aid of musical cues and voice recordings of the opposite role. Music is composed and performed by Sam Elwin, who is based at the side of the stage and makes use of loop-pedalled sound. The musical element of the production is excellent and really complements the movement and dialogue performed. As Elwin himself notes, most of the music was composed during rehearsals, allowing him to respond to moments as they occurred, as well as contribute to the generation of new moments.

In terms of movement, Yosiphon never merely walks around the performance space. Her abstract, physical theatre style movements work well and add to the clear sense of bewilderment experienced by both granddaughter and grandfather. Lighting Design and Projection by Will Monks, further adds to this and we, as audience members, can really feel as though we are stepping into the minds of these troubled individuals.

Jericho’s Rose is a fast-paced piece of theatre. Fragmented by nature, you may need to hold concentration more than you would during a more straightforward production, to fully keep track of what is going on and stay engaged. The piece could also most likely be condensed down, whilst still delivering what it has set out to deliver. However, if you want to see something abstract, surprising and delivered by talented performers, you should see Jericho’s Rose.

Reviewed by Emily K Neal

Photography by Lidia Crisafulli