21 Round For Christmas – Park Theatre, London

Tracy reminisces and reflects on her life in 21 Round for Christmas, on now at North London’s Park Theatre.

21 Round for Christmas

Ah, the holidays.  A time for togetherness.  A time for wonder.  Families gathered around the dinner table, sharing traditions and creating memories.  Wonderful.  Unless, of course, it’s you who’s expected to toil away in the kitchen, putting everyone else’s needs ahead of your own.

Toby Hampton and Matt Ballantyne, writers of 21 Round for Christmas (Hampton also directs), capture a particular seasonal malaise experienced by many.  At this time of heightened emotions and expectations it’s perhaps unsurprising that some take stock of their lives.  Look back at the path that brought them here, and what might have been.  Tracy (Cathy Conneff), on her own in the kitchen while her family exchange gifts and play games, is doing just that. 

As she cooks dishes to please everyone – including a dubious stove-top concoction and the so-called ‘fart tart’ – she thinks back to younger days with best friend Jackie, whose highly unorthodox money making scheme led Tracy to a fling which could have turned out differently but didn’t.  Maybe it’s Jackie’s absence which starts her on this train of thought.  Maybe it’s husband Derek’s shortcomings.  Or just maybe it’s having to smell vegan mother-in-law Carol’s fart tart heating up. Whatever it is, Tracy shares snippets of her life with the audience: talking to the walls, she calls it.

Conneff takes on the role of Tracy, which originated in the Hope Theatre’s Hope@Home series in 2020.  It’s a meaty role, the 70 minute monologue requiring switches of time and tone, the suggestion of absent characters with little but a coat, or a photo, or voicework.  Conneff has a good rapport with the audience, and continues to get laughs even as the tone grows more sombre.  Don’t be afraid of the limited audience participation: you’ll get a reward from Tracy’s Christmas spread.

Christmas: A Time for Better Choices (Sorry About the Yorkshires)

Seen from some angles, this is an unhappy Christmas tale.  It can also be an empowering one, as Tracy considers her past choices and the ones that still lie before her.  And there’s one frequent yet important Christmas message buried in there: that it’s never too late to face up to your own fears and regrets. To choose a path for yourself that isn’t the one of least resistance.  If this means disappointing your mother-in-law and mistreating the odd Yorkshire pudding, then maybe that’s just collateral damage.

21 Round for Christmas conjurs up one of the best uses of space I’ve seen in the Park Theatre’s smaller 90 seat venue.  Toby Hampton and Laurel Marks have created an immersive and authentic kitchen with all the detritus of a family home at Christmas including trashy novels in the sideboard and boxes of Celebrations.  Entering through a little hallway creates a liminal space between Tracy’s world and the theatre outside.  It draws us in so we feel part of the furniture, almost literally.  A few flourishes in lighting by Alex Forey and sound by Emily Rose Simons complete the experience.

And what of Tracy?  Well we may not meet all those dinner guests, but in just over an hour it feels like she’s an old pal.  The story’s focus on love and family means aspects of Tracy’s life and personality remain unexplored, but at the same time the play feels about the right length. I felt director Toby Hampton could have created more variation in the energy, but this did not detract overly from this big-hearted and thoughtful tale. And the ending is a cathartic one for all those who have quietly carried a family’s expectations at Christmas.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3.5/5

21 Round for Christmas on until 23 December 2023