Anthony Neilson’s ‘The Night Before Christmas’ at Southwark Playhouse
If you love to get into the spirit of Christmas but fancy a little change from all the traditional Christmas movies (which like me you can probably repeat word for word), then look no further this year… Anthony Neilson’s ‘The Night Before Christmas’ arrived at the Southwark Playhouse and it could just be what you were wishing for. The all-star cast directed by Alex Sutton is guaranteed to put you in a festive and jolly mood… but with a gritty streetwise edge.
Don’t get me wrong there isn’t a Christmas when I don’t plan a cinema outing. Whether it is ‘Elf’ or ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ and traditionally the movie is always followed by a special meal. This year we decided to kick start the festivities in a rather different way.
We headed down to the Southwark Playhouse on a recent Friday evening, a small quirky theatre conveniently located across the road from Mercato Metropolitano – a foodies’ heaven south of the river near Elephant and Castle and Borough.
Our first stop was indeed the indoor food market, where we enjoyed some delicious dinner on a lively Friday night. We filled up our bellies and with excitement and a sprinkle of uncertainty, we headed across the road to the Southwark Playhouse.
We got a glass of wine and then entered the stage through a small corridor which felt like part of the set and had enough festive decorations to make my heart jingle.
The whole play takes place in a warehouse on the night of Christmas Eve. Gary (Douggie McMeekin, The Crown (Netflix), Harlots (ITV)), the warehouse owner with a questionable line of business, is not having the best of times. He promised his son Power Rangers for Christmas, but he has only been able to get hold of some “knock offs”. His ex wife is on his case, which doesn’t help Gary’s anxiety. To add to his worries, someone broke into his warehouse and Gary decided to take the matter into his own hands and hold the burglar hostage. If that wasn’t enough, it wasn’t just any burglar; this guy claimed to be a Christmas Elf! He sure was dressed like one too. It was Christmas Eve after all, so I guess we’ll never really know…or will we?
There’s also Simon (Michael Salami, Hollyoaks, Just A Couple), Gary’s best friend, who wasn’t happy being called to the warehouse in the middle of the night, and is generally very grumpy. There’s Cherry (Unique Spencer, 2017 Spotlight Prize nominee), a “lady of the night” who was promised Power Rangers by Gary too. No wonder she stormed in furiously, clearly on a break from her shift, demanding her goods and threatening Gary (and poor Simon too).
And lets not forget the poor frighten Elf (Dan Starkey, Doctor Who, Casualty) on a ‘come down’, handcuffed with fairy lights and tinsel.
What continued was a night of dirty jokes, light insults, wickedness and glitter, panic, arguments, laughter and reminiscing and a little sadness too, not far off from the real thing really.
‘The Night Before Christmas’ is dark, witty and honest, without sugar-coating the reality of the stress and pressure of Christmas most of us have to deal with every year.
We genuinely laughed throughout and the story played out in an engaging and entertaining way yet with the occasional emotive moment that made me reflect on what the true essence of Christmas really is. A brilliant performance by all the actors, and from all those behind the scenes the show really delivered on the night! A wonderful and thought provoking evening of theatre that I highly recommend!
- Southwark Playhouse, 77-85 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BD; southwarkplayhouse.co.uk. Show times: Matinees 3pm and 8pm evening performance; running time: 90 minutes. Tickets cost £20/ £16 concessions. The show runs until 29th December
