People say sorry a lot in this new play at the National Theatre. Sorry for being late, or hungry, or angry, or hopeless.
The setting is a leaky community hall that offers a dozen ‘regulars’ a hot lunch, someone to talk to and a choir.
A lifeline, in other words, but threatened with closure.
The three virtues are lost in sadness. Faith is taken into care. We see her mother Beth in a fight she is bound to lose. Hope? Not much. Hazel, the middle-aged philosopher who runs the hall, cooks the lunch and tries to help everyone, ponders a replacement hall – in her front room. “You gotta hope, haven’t you?”
Nor is there much room for Charity, although everyone wants and tries to help. And in Hazel (the excellent Cecilia Noble, pictured*), with her own tragic past, Alexander Zeldin has created a nature that embodies the primary virtue.
A slow pace only heightens the drama as troubled lives are revealed.
Singing together brings moments of almost ecstatic relief. Short-lived. On the day the final notice arrives, a choir session stops abruptly a few bars into Bob Marley “Don’t worry about a thing, cause every little thing gonna be all right”.
The players mix with the audience. We have no choice but share the sadness a world away from London’s South Bank.
Faith, Hope and Charity, by Alexander Zeldin. Dorfman Theatre, until 12 October. Art and Society CARBS Blog, 15/09/19. * National Theatre programme