Caroline David
Published:
4:01 PM December 10, 2020
Nine Lessons and Carols ; Created by Chris Bush, Rebecca Frecknall & The Company at the Almeida Theatre Islington
- Credit: Helen Murray
After two national lockdowns and many desperate months of darkness, the Almeida reopens with an achingly felt response to the year: an abstract collage of sketched experiences, generated by locking down a group of six actors in a rehearsal room with director, Rebecca Frecknall, and writer, Chris Bush.
Conceived to reflect the madness, despair and occasional strange warmth of 2020, Nine Lessons and Carols wears its humane intentions clearly on its sleeve.
The play opens with a voiceover in fairy-tale mode debunking the title – there are no carols. If there are lessons, they are slow to emerge.