A BOURNVILLE church’s spiritual and affectionate love letter to the story and teachings of St Francis of Assisi was so astounding the audience sat silent and spellbound for all 85 divine minutes.
‘The 20:26 to Assisi’ was quite simply the best community production I have ever seen as the cast and crew’s passion for this story and its messaging of humility, serving the poor and love for all washed off of the stage and into the audience’s souls.
The play, at St Francis Church, stars Tristan Harris as the Saint of Assisi and was put on stage to mark the 800th anniversary of his death.
Given the small scale of the production, with many actors tasked with playing numerous roles on one small stage, it was truly extraordinary how immersive and engrossing the experience really was, as the director Malcolm McGivan makes full use of the beautiful church setting he has to work with.
The opening sequences were a masterpiece in visual storytelling- no line was uttered by any actor for more than five minutes and yet the movements on stage and the visual expressions on the performers’ faces painted the entire picture for you.
In just his second play, Harris perfectly reflects the spiritual positivity and compassion that St Francis embodied throughout his life.
Everything, from his hopeful, declarative, preacher-like line delivery to his body language- his head always titled slightly upwards, towards the heavens- was completely on point.
But he also shows himself to be a marvellous dramatic actor towards the end of the play, delivering a highly emotional and compelling monologue during the ‘stigmata’ scene as his character goes through an excruciatingly painful ordeal.
John Nightingale is a fantastic character actor, giving two separate roles such rich and layered personalities that you forget you are watching the same man perform them both.
He is blessed with impeccable line delivery as both Francis’s father and the Saint’s follower, Leo- most of the lines that stuck with me most were his, and his performance had a lot to do with that.
Huge credit to Mandy Nayak, who not only takes on three roles in one play- Francis’ mother, the Mayor of Gubbio and Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil- she offers strong and unique performances as all three.
Her emotional early showing as Francis’ heartbroken mother, despite not uttering a line in the role, was a real highlight in physical acting.
Sally Slevin honestly wouldn’t have looked out of place acting alongside legends of the calibre of Alec Guinness in her impactful showing as Pope Innocent III.
Every grand declaration she uttered and expressive hand movement was dripping with the same marvellous theatrical projection and charisma that made 1950s Hollywood such a delight.
The greatest compliment I can give Marc Phillips – as both Bishop Guido and St Francis’s follower Elias- is that he leaves the audience hanging on his every word and gives the lines and the importance of the story the reverence they deserve.
It is clear that the story of St Francis and the lessons it teaches are hugely important to him and that is reflected in his showing on stage.
Kate Palmer, as Lady Clare, wonderfully displays the desperation of her character to leave her previous life behind and her eagerness to follow St Francis on his spiritual journey of poverty and prayer.
She also interacts wonderfully well with Harris, Phillips and Nightingale in the play’s funniest scene, when she gives up her luxurious possessions and changes into more basic attire.
And a word to Malcolm McGivan as the Saracen soldier, who gives a confident and memorable showing as the stern and suspicious man.
As fantastic as the cast was, this play wouldn’t have been as impactful had it not been for the quite heavenly original music by Rob Pinnock and a very clever decision to have actors record ‘The Testament of Francis’ and put it on the airwaves at points throughout the play.
Both were strokes of audio genius and gave the feeling that the heavens were raining down and blessing this production.
The original script was written by Malcolm Morse and he, the directors and all the backstage crew are from South Birmingham.
‘The 20:26 to Assisi’ will be performed once more at St Francis Church, Sycamore Rd, Bournville, at 2.30pm tomorrow (Saturday, April 11).
Tickets cost £8 each and are available on the door or online.
Visit ticketsource.com/st-francis? to book tickets.
