Writer and Director: TJ Roderick
The Pact is a queer panto for adults, filled to the brim with songs from hymnal and modern playbooks, that leans wholeheartedly into its camp and sincere elements. The sisters that comprise the nunnery of The Asylum Chapel are bored, sad, and hiding their various sins. When they feel that God fails to answer them, they seek a pact with the demon Calcifer.
Ultimately, the content and performance of The Pact is impossible to separate from the experience of being in the space in which it is performed. The Asylum Chapel in December is very cold with challenging acoustics, and with seating on one level and no stage, it is a space that is not conducive to seeing the action of the play. For anyone seated any further back than the second row, The Pact is somewhat akin to standing by an open freezer hearing a podcast that your housemate is listening to upstairs. The relevance of this to the artistic content would, in an ideal world, be minimal. However, theatre is an embodied experience, and the experience of The Pact is sorely affected by the lack of modification to make it a show that is visible and audible to a comfortable audience.
It’s a particular shame because the glimpses of performance that are visible to the majority of the audience are compelling. Heather Woodhouse’s Calcifer captures the tone of a panto villain perfectly, with twisted movement to supplement her devilish charm. Alice Gold’s raunchy yet closeted Sister Faust plays gorgeously alongside Amiot Hills’ bolder and attitude-filled Nurse Sappho. The entire cast’s singing is universally impressive, despite the tricky acoustics.
The Pact struggles particularly with its pacing. Serious scenes pull down the energy of the show, particularly when Willow MacDonald’s Mother Superior Felicity Tapette is ruminating on her faith. MacDonald’s performance is committed to the truth of her character, and she delivers complex verse with conviction and belief. Unfortunately, these scenes jar harshly against the largely comical tone of the show. Similarly, scenes involving the depressed Sister Bane and the high Sister Odette stall the forward momentum of most scenes despite the humour their over-the-top sadness or stoned musings bring. Unfortunately, playing these facets of their characters in such an extreme way leads to long and difficult stretches of silence, which create a feeling of the show dragging.
In a different space, or with a different set-up, and with a hefty shift in pacing, The Pact could well be a thoroughly enjoyable experience for adults who miss the camp of panto. As it is, however, it is not an experience to recommend.
Runs until 13 December 2024
