Mass

An Episcopalian church in  the US is preparing for the arrival of some special visitors who will need privacy in one of their rooms.  Life is going on in the rest of the building but Brandon (Ameri Bacchus) and Judy (Susie Trayling) as they are setting up, decide to stop the music lessons and other activities until after the meeting is over so that there are no distractions.  

The visitors are two sets of parents who lost their children in a school shooting seven years before. Gail (Lyndsey Marshal) and Jay (Adeel Akhtar) lost their son Ewan whilst the murderer was Linda (Monica Dolan) and Richard (Paul Hilton)’s son  The four parents sit at a table in the middle of the room and talk through  their grief, anger, regrets, and consider if or how they can reconcile themselves to what has happened.   A small scale truth and reconciliation hearing.  

This is a new play at the Donmar by Fran Kranz which I understand is based on the film of the same name. This is an absolutely beautiful piece which deals in shades of grey, rather than the black and white of accusation and blame and gives a catharsis of sorts whilst also recognising the problems that still exist, and the echoes that continue on.  Great performances from all of the cast. Monica Dolan is fantastic as the mother of a boy she loved but who also did terrible things, but all of the cast are excellent and on point in delivering the shifts in emotion and energy that are needed for something like this to work. 

It's played at a meditative pace which isn’t something I often enjoy but it really worked in this case.  It still had us all on the edge of our seats and with hardly a sound from the audience for the whole 100 minutes - there was no interval and for good reason. I loved the ending as real life creeps back in, but with a lovely still moment at the end.   A great  set design which created a beautiful space protected from but also surrounded by the world but made us focus on the centre of the room.  And I loved the way the table revolved so we got to see from all angles, although it took me a while to understand how everybody seemed to have moved without me noticing!  

One of those plays where there is a collective sigh at the end.  Not easy but beautiful.  Recommended.