The Last Noël (NHB Modern Plays)

'We'll tell the same old stories, all over again. And we won't complain. Because it's Christmas.'

It's Christmas Day, sort of, and Alice, Mike and Tess - three generations of the one family - are busy preparing a feast, singing songs, spinning yarns and squabbling about snacks... like only a close family can. But someone is missing from the table.

Telling their stories in turns, and breaking off for the odd musical interlude, the family pass the time waiting for Tess's mum to arrive. As they do, we see a picture of how one family forms its traditions - and how those traditions matter most when there are problems on the horizon.

The Last Noël by Chris Bush is a funny, moving, uplifting play with original songs. An innovative festive drama, it captures the unique bonds of family and how coming together to share stories and a meal can be a modern Christmas miracle.

It was first produced in 2019 by Attic Theatre Company and Arts at the Old Fire Station on a tour of venues around London, before a Christmas run at the Old Fire Station in Oxford.

Auteur

Chris Bush is a playwright, lyricist and theatre-maker. Her plays include: Faustus: That Damned Woman (Headlong, Lyric Hammersmith and Birmingham Rep, 2020); The Last Noël (Old Fire Station, Oxford, 2019); The Changing Room (National Theatre Connections, 2018); Steel (Sheffield Theatres, 2018); an adaptation of Pericles (National Theatre, London, 2018); The Assassination of Katie Hopkins, written with Matt Winkworth (Theatr Clwyd, 2018); What We Wished For and A Dream.