Theatre Review: The Last Noel at the Lace Market Theatre

Walking into the Lace Market Theatre for The Last Noel feels less like arriving at a performance and more like stepping quietly through the side door of someone’s home on Christmas Eve.

Before you’ve even taken your seat you’re already being drawn into the family living room at the heart of Chris Bush’s festive play.

It’s an intimacy that doesn’t wait for the house lights to dim: Mike (Michael Radford) is still decorating the Christmas tree and casually asks me if I wouldn’t mind popping a couple of baubles on for him, so off I go to decorate. His mum, Alice (Leslie Brown), busies herself as Mother’s do at Christmas handing out mulled wine and warm apple juice, while Tess (Ezra Roberts) pulls crackers with the audience as though greeting old friends.

It’s a charming, disarming pre-show ritual, one that instantly places us inside the family’s traditions rather than outside them. And as the story unfolds, this closeness becomes the emotional heart of a play that is as nostalgic as it is bittersweet, a reminder of how Christmas magnifies everything: the old stories, raw wounds, the unspoken tensions, the laughter, and the grief.

Chris Bush’s writing is known for blending humour with emotional honesty, and The Last Noel is one of her lesser-known but most quietly affecting pieces. 

The plot slips between the past and present through storytelling, as three generations gather to prepare for the arrival of a missing family member. While they wait, they share stories, some cherished, some painful, that gradually reveal what shaped their history and the shadows that linger at the edges of their celebrations.

Director Laurie Owen leans into the play’s intimacy, staging the audience around the edges of the set as though inviting them into a warm, slightly chaotic living room at Christmas. The result is a production where no one is more than a few feet from the performers, meaning every glance, pause, and breath carries weight.

The cast of three deliver performances that are natural, grounded, and surprisingly layered for a play with such gentle, cosy beginnings.

Leslie Brown as Alice captures that uniquely maternal blend of warmth and steel,  the kind of woman who will top up your drink, keep the peace, and quietly carry more than she ever lets on.

Michael Radford’s Mike balances humour and frustration, revealing a man who loves deeply but is bruised by the complicated legacy of family stories that refuse to stay neatly in the past.

Ezra Roberts as Tess brings infectious energy, vulnerability, and razor sharp comedic timing. Their presence anchors the play’s themes of generational change and inherited memory.

All three handle substantial dialogue with ease, moving seamlessly between spoken scenes and songs. There’s a homemade charm to the music played simply on a keyboard, arranged by Matt Winkworth and directed and played by Sam Marshall, that fits the tone perfectly. It feels like something this fictional family would genuinely sing together after dinner, even as the cracks begin to show beneath the harmonies.

Part of the production’s emotional impact comes from how recognisable it feels. Stories told and retold, family roles we slip into without noticing, the sudden sharpness of a memory we thought we’d outgrown. Bush understands the assignment and how Christmas amplifies it all.

For Nottingham audiences, seated in such close proximity to the cast, the effect is striking. At times the theatre feels like you the viewer has stepped into a time capsule; full of warmth and family rituals. At other times, it feels like a spotlight on the backstage messiness of family life. It’s this duality; comfort and discomfort, nostalgia and pain, that leaves the biggest impression after the final scene ends. 

As the play draws to a close, the emotional arc lands with a soft but unmistakable ache. It’s not the grand, glittering sadness of a holiday drama, nor is it a cosy feel good festive play,  but something much more truthful: the quiet admission that families change because people do, and that Christmas is sometimes the moment we notice it most.

What the Lace Market Theatre achieves here is a reminder of what Nottingham’s community stages do best: create work that is intimate, bold, and rooted in connection. Freya Morgan’s props add lived-in authenticity to the room, while the lighting design by Nick Gale keeps the space warm without shying away from the play’s darker emotional corners.

For an amateur production, the performance is thoroughly impressive, a testament to the dedication of its creatives and volunteers. There’s also something beautifully local about watching a Nottingham audience become part of the story, pulling crackers, decorating the tree, and settling into someone else’s rituals as though they were their own.

The Last Noel is a quietly powerful piece of theatre, not flashy or showy, but captures the tangled threads of family life with tenderness and humour, leaving room for reflection long after you’ve stepped back out into the bustle of Market Square.

If you’re after a festive story with depth, charm, and a distinct Nottingham sense of community, this production at Lace Market Theatre offers it in abundance.

The Last Noel runs at Lace Market Theatre from Thursday 11 to Saturday 20 December 2025