Choir at Chichester Festival Theatre (Minerva) Review
Choir at Chichester Festival Theatre. Photo by Helen Murray
Written by Rosie for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
This show includes mentions of abuse, flashing/strobing lights, moments of darkness, alcoholic drinks, haze, smoke effects.
The Minerva Theatre is a fully accessible space with lift access. Accessible toilets have audio-visual assistance for those with visual impairments that may need descriptions of where objects are in the space. CFT’s access scheme is easy to navigate and they offer a wide range of accessibility options to patrons, including but not limited to “Buddies” for those who do not feel comfortable attending the theatre alone, touch tours before certain performances and specific seat descriptions for those who need larger seats or specific requirements. See Chichester Festival Theatre’s dedicated Access page for more information.
“You come to choir and your heart can just beat.” This line stands firm throughout Chichester’s latest new production “Choir”, written by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti and directed by Hannah Joss for the 2025 season at the Minerva Theatre. Amongst the well-known songs and the battling personalities, the show at its heart allows its array of characters to “just be” and exist without any judgement in their small community choir. It is a small piece set in one community centre room, but by the end of Bhatti’s infectious dialogue, feels like the world is a different, brighter place than it was before the show began. Nothing quite connects us as humans than the power of music and community, and Choir shows this in abundance.
Following a small group of seven budding choristers and their group leader, Choir tells the story of when the group are offered a chance to perform on a national TV show to help raise funds for one of their new members to go to music school. Morgan (played by Laura Checkley), the group leader, brings her young, anxious student Freddie (played by Keenan Munn-Francis) into the group, sparking tensions with the former lead singer and her life-long best friend, Paul (James Gillan). With previous professional singing gigs, Paul is no stranger to fighting for the spotlight, but finds himself fighting with the desire to take his place at the centre of the team or allow others to shine. The band of misfit toys each use their time at the choir to escape from the world outside and reclaim a part of themselves they feel has been lost.
Laura Checkley as Morgan acts as the backbone of the show, supporting the mixed cast of talented performers throughout the highs and lows of the narrative. She makes for a strong yet flawed leader, a perfect and grounded personality to balance out Paul’s ego. Gillan as Paul perfectly captures the stereotype star of any smaller group, but does a fantastic job of changing the way you think of him from the start to the end of the show; his journey is supported by Bhatti’s wonderfully real, eclectic writing but Gillan allows the layers to Paul to really fall away bit by bit as we get to know the character over the course of the two hours. A clear audience favourite, and definitely the comedic highlight of the show (with practically every single one of her solo moments receiving bellied laughter), was Annie Wensak as the kooky, fibbing choir member Sheila; with incredible physical comedy and line delivery to boot, it was hard not to laugh at her quips and feel like you wanted to know more about her story. With all the cast acting to support one another throughout the turmoil of the two hours, they allow each other to shine in each character moment. This show excels with the grounding of each character in reality; you see very real people in each of the performances and the scriptwork and it allows yourself to fully commit to believing the obstacles they are facing. “Choir” is at its very best in these moments; there is nothing out of this world extraordinary, but it feels you are watching a very real group of unlikely friends give you a warm hug as the show unfolds.
At times, though only occasionally, the writing feels a little twee and characters don’t get full depth or resolution - it’s a difficult line to balance in a show where every character has a poignant arc that needs to be explored - but in equal measure, it is refreshing to see a show which doesn’t paint a human experience with a “happily ever after”. The songs (some performed in the space of the choir, others in imagined sequences in Morgan’s mind) are a nice break from some of the melodrama which occurs and takes you back to the idea of escapism in music. It was also refreshing to feel that the writing spanned the humour and sentimentality of more than just one generation – this is a hard note to strike, but it was nice to feel as though everyone watching this choir rehearsal were in on their jokes with little exclusion due to age or experience. It was hard for me to not draw minor comparisons to concepts such as TV show “Glee” at moments with the personalities depicted and, obviously, the jukebox choir in their very brown, community setting – it was fun to see a side to performing choir that is not all glitz and glamour but just people coming together to sing. Joss’ direction allows each performer to tell the story and fill the space with more than just their songs, but their care and camaraderie with one another.
Chichester’s Minerva Theatre is, in my opinion, where a lot of CFT’s best work seems to be during this season. Choir is no exception. Striking chords with audience members regardless of who they are, it offers a fantastic, laugh-out-loud night out. The music (ranging from Beyonce and Whitney to Queen and Amy Winehouse, just to name a few) never feels unwelcome in the play and will certainly offer a foot-tapping time in the audience. It’s a celebration of being a part of a community, through messy and difficult times, knowing that the bonds you form in groups such as these can help you when you need it most. Bhatti and Joss allow their performers to bring to life a very human story which, in the two hours, brings you on a journey of highs and lows through soaring songs and two-step choreography. For me, it was an unexpected delight and a thoroughly enjoyable night out. Music allows us to connect and endure, and Choir shows us exactly this.
Choir plays at Chichester Festival’s Minerva Theatre until 30 Aug
★ ★ ★ ★
