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The Cast of "Allelujah!"
(photo: Manuel Harlan) |
A
new play by British playwright Alan Bennett (of History
Boys fame) is cause for
celebration (and cerebration), especially when it's on the
extraordinary level of his latest, Allelujah! by
name, produced at Bridge Theatre, now being presented by National
Theatre Live (this past week at Cape Cinema in Dennis, and next Monday
November 5 at
Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline). On its surface it's a very
funny and uplifting treatment of a dozen patients in a geriatric
ward (in Bethlehem Hospital, no less) where there too often seems to
be no room at the inn, since its “patients” have become
“residents” in a rather open-ended prolonged purgatory.
Underlying all the humor, as is often the case with the works of
Bennett, there is a much darker side that puts the spotlight on the
political pawns that these poor people devolve into when authorities
fixate on numerics, prizing not recovery but discharge. At the heart
of this mind-blowing play is the insidious and callous calculation of
“heads in beds”.
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The Cast of "Allelujah!"
(photo: Manuel Harlan) |
Central to the community at “The Beth” is the
twenty-five-year veteran nurse, Sister Gilchrist (Deborah Findlay),
whose final solution to the problem is managing to achieve her ideal:
an empty bed. That may also be said for the unctuous Hospital
Chairman Salter (Peter Forbes), the newly migrated Dr. Valentine
(Sacha Dhawan), and even the ambitious young administrative
government inspector up-and-comer Colin (Samuel Barnett), son of one
of the more outspoken elderly occupants, Joe (Jeff Rawle). As the
play progresses, much is revealed about who these folks are (and
were), and just how deceptively powerful and transformative “old
age” can be when in the hands of a still-creative and cleverly
inventive bunch like these seniors, especially the alert and oriented
Mavis (Patricia England), Mary (Julia Foster) and Hazel (Sue
Wallace). There are sad moments, such as the perennial
waiting-for-Godot patience of former teacher Ambrose (Simon Williams)
whose former student promises to appear at any moment (but never
does), or the plaintive cry by Mrs. Maudsley (Jacqueline Clarke): “It
was my house!”. There is talk about the tenacity not of “the
jaws of death but the jaws of life” as some look forward to their
own idea of peace, or closure.
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The Cast of "Allelujah!"
(photo: Manuel Harlan) |
If this sounds serious, it's because it is. But it's
also relentlessly hilarious at heart (and there is much heart), not least because this incredibly
orchestrated cast can effortlessly punch a line and join in a
rapturous kick line that belies their years. Director Nicholas
Hytner manages to hit all the right notes that Bennett provides,
beginning and ending with sung “Allelujahs”, the former from an
old hymn, the last from film (“Sing Hallelujah, come on get happy,
get ready for the judgment day!”). Choreographer Arlene Phillips
assembled a cast of primarily amateur dancers (though most are
life-long acting professionals) who truly make the show sing. The
other creative elements (Design by Bob Crowley, Music by George
Fenton, Lighting by Natasha Chivers and Sound by Mike Walker), as
well as the Direction for the Screen by Robin Lough, are all
fabulously integrated.
Like the recent musical Fun Home (set in a
funeral home), this production takes a situation steeped in
gravitas to a plateau overflowing with soaring spirits.
It's fundamentally impossible to describe (especially some sudden
twists that would qualify as major spoilers) this curiously engaging
amalgam; it's basically sui generis, wonderfully one of a
kind, positively unique. It's arguably the best work in the career of
its eighty-four-year-old playwright, and merits being given many an
encore. Bennett has surely come a long way since his efforts (as
writer and performer) in 1960's Beyond the Fringe. This work
could easily deplete one's thesaurus of positive adjectives, so let's
just call it positively brilliant, with a heartfelt, heart-rending
and hearty “Amen!”.
Encore HD Broadcast will be presented at Coolidge Corner Theatre (Brookline) on Nov. 5th at 7pm.
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