A Consoling Stage Light
Nine Lessons and Carols *****
Reviewed by Emily Hawkins
It’s been a long time since sitting down to write a review... or anything really. I wouldn’t call this a review though, so much as an article of reflection on a piece of art that moved me to share something of myself in return. The Almeida Theatre’s production of Nine Lessons and Carols: stories for a long winter in London brought me back to the theatre that I’ve almost forgotten exists.
At the start of the pandemic, I was adamant about watching the weekly National Theatre broadcasts of past productions and reading unfamiliar plays. I’m sure we were all optimistic about what we might manage to accomplish in quarantine. But, as the ending became almost impossible to envision, I found myself only doing the most essential tasks to get me from one day to the next (which didn’t include seeking out weekly plays to “enrich my creative spirit”).
Composed of a six-member ensemble, Nine Lessons guides us into the eye of the storm that was 2020. Director Rebecca Frecknall curated a symbiotic creative team, with script by Chris Bush and music and lyrics by Maimuna Memon (who was also an ensemble member). Tasked with devising a show in a matter of six weeks, along with adhering to Covid health guidelines, this talented team impeccably surmounted this seemingly impossible challenge. Although I watched the production on a couch in Los Angeles, rather than in the stalls of the Almeida in London, the spirit and intent of the piece still resonated.
Easing us into the show, Annie Firbank narrates a tale about the gods creating everyone in their own space, but planting thorns in their backs so they must seek out others to assist in healing their wounds. The ensemble then comes together in their first song, sung to their “January Self.” We’re invited to reflect on our own naivete with which we approached 2020, unaware of the chaos and loneliness to come. It was especially effective as we watched the production on the second of January, and can only think of what 2021 may have in store.
Persisting through spotty Wi-Fi signals, a Postmates delivery, feeding a pet, and every other distraction that comes with modern-day theatre streaming, we sat, mesmerized by the fluidity and vulnerability of the production before us. Each actor holding our attention, as we pieced together the initially disjointed scenes. We gasped when Luke Thallon finished his monologue about a “stray dog,” that we uncovered throughout the monologue was allusive to the bouts of depression all of us surely felt throughout lockdown. And Katie Brayben elevated our spirits in her melody of the hesitant bluebird.
This show tastefully touched on the major impacts of 2020, without aggression or impertinence. It hints at the grave effects of hospital regulations, when a mother (Naana Agyei-Ampadu) has to face her miscarriage alone, lamenting that, to her partner who is waiting in the car park, “they still have a daughter.” We think about the many that must have suffered silently, and alone, in hospitals and doctors’ offices, as so many facilities were bursting at the seams with Covid patients. Toheeb Jimoh humorously delivers the life of a package deliverer in a pandemic --reflecting on the waning gratitude from customers, and lack of decent facilities to even relieve oneself during a full days’ work. We think about the various random Amazon purchases that magically arrive at our door two days later. Elliot Levey also provides some levity, reading to us a banana bread recipe, and then remarking he doesn’t even like bananas. I at least was reminded of my failed attempt at a sourdough starter back in May that ended in the garbage. Nine Lessons and Carols skillfully reveals and balances the unacknowledged stories of the loneliness in isolation, while shedding a light on our warmer moments. Although the production is no longer available to stream, I will hold it lessons and carols in my thoughts as I move into this new year.
