21 ROUND FOR CHRISTMAS at the Park Theatre

★★★★

“There is an ease to the performance that disguises the daunting task of being alone on stage for an hour and a quarter”

There are plenty of theatre shows that pop up at this time of year that like to describe themselves as an ‘alternative’ Christmas gig. Not all live up to the accolade. “21 Round for Christmas” is one that does. Its originality sneaks up on you like the punchline of a shaggy dog story, hiding for much of the time behind the kitchen sink drama of a meandering monologue that, at times, veers as far away from ‘festive’ as the Grinch on speed.

Tracy is holed up in the kitchen, attempting to prepare Christmas Dinner, while a motley crew of assorted members of her extended family are making merry (a loose term) across the hallway. The turkey (and various substitutes to cater for multiple dietary demands) is, literally, left on the back burner. She blames us – the audience – for distracting her and allowing her to unleash her candid and foul-mouthed reminiscences while mother-in-law’s vegan tart burns. She often addresses a photograph stuck to the fridge door – a snapshot of her absent, best friend Jackie. It is the past escapades of the two of them that comprise the bulk of the narrative, the humour and occasional moments of pathos. The anecdotes gush forth, but too often they have little connection to the dramatic frame around which they are structured, and they become off-the-shelf recollections that could fit any scenario.

Cathy Conneff, as Tracy, is brash, profane, unashamed, and wonderfully charismatic. Her natural affinity with the audience gives the character an unaffected authenticity. There is an ease to the performance that disguises the daunting task of being alone on stage for an hour and a quarter. One of a kind, Tracy is also ‘everywoman’ as she unwraps her regrets and throws them onto the pile of spent joys and tribulations like unwanted gifts.

“She has the makings of becoming a seasonal staple”

Conceived in lockdown as part of the Hope@Home series of monologues, writers Matt Ballantyne and Toby Hampton (Hampton also directs) display a sharp insight, but the script is a bit unbalanced. Some yarns are stretched too far while others are left hanging. Alex Forey’s lighting cleverly transports us to past locations in Tracy’s mind while in the here-and-now the set (Hampton, again, with Laurel Marks) evokes the class-defined, London suburban kitchen with precise detail. There is a film maker’s eye at work here, enhancing the realism that Conneff already provides in abundance. Unfortunately, Emily Rose Simons lifelike sound design, that conjures up the rabble next door, doesn’t match the naturalism; which could probably be rectified by a re-jigging of the venue’s sound system.

There are bound to be comparisons to Willy Russell’s ‘Shirley Valentine’, which is no bad thing. Like the eighties’ forerunner, “21 Round for Christmas” (a clumsy title I have to say) has an existential quality, and Conneff skilfully manages to reveal the depth beneath the froth. We are teased in this respect, wanting to know more about Jackie who we learn is lying in a hospital bed at the Royal Marsden. The comedy is dished up loudly and haphazardly, but garnished with intimate detail that almost goes unnoticed. Something in Conneff’s eyes betrays a crisis unfolding. No wonder Tracy ends up hurling the roast potatoes. Her defiance, steeped in humour, has more than a double edge.

We come away feeling like we’ve caught up with an old friend. A bit of a black sheep. Flawed, but somebody we love. In small doses perhaps. For about an hour or so maybe. See you next Christmas, Tracy. We hope we do. She has the makings of becoming a seasonal staple. She can’t please the twenty-one people she has round for Christmas – but she certainly pleases her audience.

21 ROUND FOR CHRISTMAS at the Park Theatre

Reviewed on 11th December 2023

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Cam Harle

Previously reviewed at this venue:

The Time Machine – A Comedy | ★★★★ | December 2023

Ikaria | ★★★★ | November 2023

Passing | ★★★½ | November 2023

The Interview | ★★★ | November 2023

It’s Headed Straight Towards Us | ★★★★★ | September 2023

Sorry We Didn’t Die At Sea | ★★½ | September 2023

The Garden Of Words | ★★★ | August 2023

Bones | ★★★★ | July 2023

Paper Cut | ★★½ | June 2023

Leaves of Glass | ★★★★ | May 2023

The Beach House | ★★★ | February 2023

Winner’s Curse | ★★★★ | February 2023

21 Round For Christmas

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★★★

“As a period piece, both of the time it is set, and the time in which it was created, Vinegar Tom is a haunting piece of theatre”

Caryl Churchill’s Vinegar Tom, just opened at the Maltings Theatre in St. Albans, marks the 45th anniversary of the play’s premiere by the feminist theatre collective, Monstrous Regiment. Written at the same time as Churchill’s Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, Vinegar Tom explores similar subjects set in an England coming apart at the seams during the Civil War. Both plays present political (and polemical) material which resonates just as powerfully today, but Vinegar Tom is the more overtly feminist piece. It also incorporates music hall touches well suited to the style of a 1970s touring company like Monstrous Regiment, but which, ironically, date a show for twenty first century audiences no longer familiar with the music hall tradition.

Vinegar Tom is not about witches, as Churchill herself says. Instead she aimed to write a play for Monstrous Regiment that highlighted the plight of women living on the fringes of society. Her play is also about how unique, nonconformist women end up on those fringes (both then and now). With no means of visible support, and vulnerable as spinsters or widows, such women initially struggle as objects of suspicion among their neighbours. Ultimately, they become victims of a paranoid age looking for scapegoats. Despite the disclaimer, Churchill creates a compelling and believable narrative for the origins of witch hunts in seventeenth century England.

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The Maltings Theatre revival of Vinegar Tom, directed by Matthew Parker, is a bold attempt to place the themes of the play front and centre. On a barely there set, designed by Sorcha Corcoran, Parker has assembled a talented cast (with particularly spirited performances by Emilia Harrild and Melissa Shirley Rose). The set is complemented by Alice McNicholas’ beautiful costumes. The music (composed by Maria Haïk Escudero) introduces a rock element to the show. This update is a departure from the more folk influenced music created for the original production by Monstrous Regiment. This revival features instead, cast members in period influenced costume picking up electric instruments for the songs that punctuate each scene’s end. These musical moments are arresting visuals, and certainly introduce a more “ominous” vibe. But the overall effect overwhelms Churchill’s dialogue, and the shape of the original play. The lighter, more comic (and teachable) moments recede.

In all Churchill’s plays, it’s the words you listen for. And in Vinegar Tom (the play takes its name from the cat of one of the characters) the lyrics are as powerful as the scenes that precede them. Each scene in is a punch in the gut about women’s treatment in the seventeenth century (and by extension, our own). Escudero’s music is potent, drawing on many rock influences, and the performers who play it, are more than up to the task. Ultimately, however, the power of the musical element is just too much for the play—and the space. The Maltings is an intimate black box theatre well suited to the original, touring, production of Vinegar Tom—but in this 2021 update, the intimacy, and hence the impact of each scene as the actors play it, gets lost. It’s not impossible to reimagine Vinegar Tom as a rock musical, but it would be a different beast.

As a period piece, both of the time it is set, and the time in which it was created, Vinegar Tom is a haunting piece of theatre. It stands as testament to the quality of the work produced by 60s and 70s feminist theatre collectives. So do make the trip to St. Albans if you have never seen this play before—it’s vintage Churchill, and a timely revival.

Reviewed by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Pavel Gonevski

21 ROUND FOR CHRISTMAS at the Park Theatre

★★★★

“There is an ease to the performance that disguises the daunting task of being alone on stage for an hour and a quarter”

“She has the makings of becoming a seasonal staple”

21 ROUND FOR CHRISTMAS at the Park Theatre

Reviewed on 11th December 2023

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Cam Harle

Previously reviewed at this venue:

21 Round For Christmas

21 Round For Christmas

The Maltings Theatre

Reviewed – 29th October 2021

★★★

“As a period piece, both of the time it is set, and the time in which it was created, Vinegar Tom is a haunting piece of theatre”

Reviewed by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Pavel Gonevski

Vinegar Tom

The Maltings Theatre

Other shows recently reviewed by Dominica: