CHOIR

Minerva Theatre

★★½

“has warmth and energy but is held back by its uneven tone and sketchy characterisation”

Community, chaos and catchy tunes collide in Choir, though not always in harmony. Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s new comedy with music, directed by Hannah Joss, aims to be a feel-good celebration of connection and belonging but delivers an uneven evening populated by characters who often feel one-dimensional and overly caricatured.

At the centre is Morgan (Laura Checkley), who runs a small-town community choir in a pub’s upstairs room. They meet weekly to rehearse pop songs, drink and find space to be versions of themselves beyond their regular lives. The play follows the week leading up to a fundraising gig, which takes an unexpected turn when a TV producer offers the choir a chance to perform on national television, an opportunity Morgan seizes to put them on the map.

Morgan’s own description of her singers as having “seven different personalities” is telling. Everyone is different, with lives beyond the choir: Paul (James Gillan), a former West End performer now reduced to local radio voiceovers; Anna (Danusia Samal), whose composed exterior masks private struggles; Ken (Timothy Speyer), a sunny optimist despite a track record of underachievement; Esther (Danielle Henry) and Joy (Alison Fitzjohn), “best friends” whose relationship thrives on constant point-scoring; and Sheila (Annie Wensak), a compulsive liar whose fabrications are delivered with unapologetic flair. Late to the mix is Freddie (Keenan Munn-Francis), the young talent they’re fundraising for, whose arrival shifts the dynamic and unsettles the group. In theory, this variety could be a strength; in practice, the characters remain underdeveloped and the personal revelations feel more engineered than earned.

The show alternates between rehearsal scenes, where the singing is deliberately off-key or hesitant (well executed as such) and fantasy sequences where the choir sounds polished and professional. This framing device gives the performers the chance to shine vocally: Gillan’s soaring rendition of Queen’s Somebody to Love, Samal’s smoky take on Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black and Munn-Francis’s heartfelt Nothing Compares 2 U are standout moments.

Alison Fitzjohn and Annie Wensak share most of the comic thunder, though in very different styles – Fitzjohn with dry, deadpan barbs and Wensak delivering audacious one-liners and scene-stealing entrances. Danielle Henry as Esther adds a quieter, sharper presence, blending vulnerability with subtle tension in her friendship with Joy. Laura Checkley’s Morgan, while central, feels somewhat one-note, limiting the character’s emotional arc. Though the cast’s comic timing is strong, performances often lean toward broad stereotypes rather than nuance. Speyer (Ken), Gillan (Paul) and Munn-Francis (Freddie) carry the most sustained emotional beats, but the delivery often follows the rhythm of scripted dialogue rather than the natural ebb and flow of genuine conversation, a reflection of Bhatti’s script, which hints at something more meaningful but too often resorts to easy laughs and predictable plot turns. Joss, in her directorial debut, maintains pace but doesn’t fully bridge these divides or allow character arcs to develop.

Designer Anisha Fields’ pub function room set is exactly what you’d expect, transforming into a neon-lit diva stage for the fantasy sequences – a shift echoed by Jai Morjaria’s lighting moving from pub warmth to spotlight glamour. Fields also designs the costumes, which convincingly reflect the characters’ personalities and add an extra layer of texture and comedy to the production. Alexandra Faye Braithwaite’s sound design and Rich Forbes’ arrangements, supported by Musical Director Michael Henry, inject vitality into the music. These pop moments lift the atmosphere, suggesting what Choir might achieve if the writing matched its musical flair.

Choir has warmth and energy but is held back by its uneven tone and sketchy characterisation. The cast brings commitment and charm, hinting at stories the script never fully explores. Ultimately, it feels like a choir warming up – full of promise, but not yet in harmony.

CHOIR

Minerva Theatre

Reviewed on 8th August 2025

by Ellen Cheshire

Photography by Helen Murray

CHOIR

Mother Courage and her Children

Southwark Playhouse

Reviewed – 6th November 2017

★★★

“Lawrence articulates to the audience a character with steely determination and an innate inner strength”

Hailed by some as the best play of the last hundred years, I was excited to see this performance. The story follows a mother who is determined to make a living and protect her children through the barbaric Thirty Years’ War by any means available to her.

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”189″ gal_title=”Mother Courage”]

The scene is immediately set as you are led into the auditorium by ushers dressed as soldiers. The stage is a central walkway with seating on either side. As you enter, a boy is playing centre stage with toy soldiers alongside Barney George’s set of scaffolding, dirty tarpaulin, rope and smoke, illustrating the desolate landscape of war.

Part of the staging (and large portions of the play) are performed on a mezzanine level behind one half of the audience. If you are sat on this side it is almost impossible to watch without straining your neck or annoying the person next to you! This I felt was a strange decision from director Hannah Chissick and actually unnecessary as the main performance on the central stage and aisles worked well.

Josie Lawrence puts on a strong performance as Mother Courage. She articulates to the audience a character with steely determination and an innate inner strength that enables her to survive and adapt to whatever the war torn environment throws at her. She displays a huge range of emotions from deepest sadness to frustrated anger and uses quick witted humour to build relationships and diffuse dangerous situations. It is a remarkable feat given that she is centre stage for much of the 3 hours of the production.

Phoebe Vigor who plays Kattrin shows off her acting abilities by giving a stand out performance as the mute daughter. Using only facial expressions you feel her emotion and heartache without her actually uttering a word. You sense the depth of her helplessness and frustration whenever she sets foot on stage.

Laura Checkley playing Yvette brings life to the stage as the loud quick-witted prostitute. She commands the stage with a swagger and a sharp tongue that leaves the men she encounters a quivering wreck.

I enjoyed the performance but felt that something was lacking … perhaps not being able to see some of the acting didn’t help? It was also very long. Too long. To keep the audience engaged for the full 3 hours it needs to have much greater pace and stronger performances from the supporting actors.

Tag Archives: Laura Checkley

CHOIR

★★½

Minerva Theatre

CHOIR

Minerva Theatre

★★½

“has warmth and energy but is held back by its uneven tone and sketchy characterisation”