Writers and Directors: Jacob Lovick and Jack Robertson
Not every production at Christmas is warm, fuzzy and pantomime-esque. Some, such as Midwyntar, explore the darker side of the festive season by focusing on a fictional family whose holiday period is steeped in tradition.
Fran (Diane Axford) and her husband Stephen (emphasis on the phen) have lived in Midwyntar, Dorset their whole lives, loving the traditional community and tight-knit neighbourhood they are part of. They’re big fans of how things used to be before the winter season was overtaken by religion and commercialised by big companies. Cousin Adrian (Derek Mitchell) from America first visited the UK side of his family before lockdown in 2020, but since hasn’t left – constantly on his phone and updating his supposed 13,000 followers on his life out in the sticks. Although December is always an important time for their family – this year, it’s extra special, due to the arrival of daughter Rowan’s (Megan Jarvie) new girlfriend Po (Eleanor Rattenbury).
This is Po’s first Christmas away from her family, and they certainly do things differently here in Midwyntar. They don’t name their pet dogs, the advent calendar finishes on the 22nd of December and they’re very enthusiastic about Po staying ‘pure of heart’ in anticipation of their upcoming pagan-style festivities. Every family has their own strange quirks – and writers Jacob Lovick and Jack Robertson have done a great job of mixing the normality of ‘new family’ awkwardness with the more sinister strangeness that encompasses the Midwyntar clan specifically, so until the end it’s not clear just how eerie the family might get.
The uncomfortable awkwardness provides some great comedic moments throughout the production, and it’s often easy to think you’re just watching a normal cringey ‘meet the family’ scenario, as the sinister references in the script are wonderfully and subtly sprinkled into various scenes as a gentle reminder that things will definitely get darker.
Mitchell, Axford and Robertson as Stephen are great at providing the creepy elements of the family – not too over the top to make them totally unbelievable, but enough to make it clear that they are all absolutely bonkers. As the narrative shifts more onto the horror side of this horror comedy, Po starts to feel more isolated and uncontactable, and Rattenbury excellently showcases the fear and apprehension that her character starts to feel. There are elements of Get Out and Midsommar within the script that make the audience want to scream at Po to escape while she can. Jarvie’s character Rowan also does a good job of slowly shifting away from being Po’s loving girlfriend and part of the family’s bizarre ritual.
There are a few points during the show where the long pauses in conversations, and slow costume changes threaten to dissipate the tension that has been built previously. It’s when the scenes are snappy and abrupt that the best of both the performers and writing come out due to the shock factor and sheer intrigue of what is going to happen. The final scenes are brilliantly barmy – the only flaw being the song choice, as it feels very out of place and almost belittles the well-created creepiness that has embedded the rest of the show. It would be good if they changed the song to shelve the silliness and lean further into the horror for those final scenes to really delight an audience.
Overall, this is a fun show, that although about tradition – definitely isn’t traditional. It’s a great alternative production during the Christmas period that will have you gripped with interest from the very beginning and very relieved when the only tensions at your own family Christmas, are about Monopoly cheats or who gets the last roast potato.
Runs until 22 December 2023
