REVIEW: HELL’S BELLS by Sally Wood at The Canal Cafe Theatre 6 - 9 December 2023

Christmas can be a difficult time for any family, but rarely as difficult as the kind of Christmas faced by the cast of this new play. Here Robert and Joyce, an older couple, have their heavily pregnant adult daughter Lydia and bumbling son-in-law Mack thrust their crumbling marriage upon them for the holidays while their own marriage accelerates in its own terminal decline.

As the story unfolds and each character descends further and further into antipathy for the rest it may surprise you to hear that the laughs rarely cease; writer Sally Wood has an incisive ability to find the ironic, almost gallows humour buried in a deteriorating domestic situation that practically everyone will find relatable on some level. Additionally, there’s the foundation for a great story in how each character almost acts as a mirror for the other, across generations and sex as the members of each couple interweave and play their eccentricities and anxieties off one another – like a Christmas Tree the narrative here sprouts off in different directions while maintaining a strong central consistency.

But the branches of the tree here end up being quite scraggy and uneven overall. Some are overgrown while others remain brown and bare, and the final refinements of tinsel and decoration remain missing. Characters feel simultaneously overwritten and insufficiently grounded, decisive moments and revelations are spat out rather than teased out and the energy overall seems to be motivated more by plot necessity than natural dramatic progression.

There’s promise here, notably in how one or two characters are genuinely unpleasant and immoral and yet remain compelling, following easily in the footsteps of icons such as Basil Fawlty. On the other hand, when these same characters are meant to be eliciting our sympathy they simply fall flat. Last but not least, the delivery of lines and the connection of energy between actors on the night was not nearly as sharp as the script demands - more than anything this needs to be dressed for any future runs.

There’s a good show here somewhere, but much like the marriages its story focuses on there’s a lot of work that needs to be done before it can really stand on its feet.

Hell’s Bells showing at The Canal Cafe Theatre 8th December – 9th December 2023

Box Office: https://canalcafetheatre.com/our-shows/hells-bells/

Directed by Jake Wood

Written by Sally Wood

Produced by Sea High Productions

Reviewed by Harry Conway