Theatre Review: Hope (Circa Theatre, Wellington, until February 23)

A review of the new play by Jenny Pattrick, Hope. Directed by Lyndee-Jane Rutherford. Is HOPE the most powerful medicine of all?

Hope

Direction: Lynden-Jane Rutherford (written by Jenny Pattrick)

Circa Theatre; Circa One (January 24 – February 23)

Hope kicks off the 2025 season in the Circa main theatre, and it’s a play for everyone I think, with big themes, wise writing, and some great acting. Exactly the sorts of things to make you want to recommend seeing theatre, and exactly the way that I think theatre should be used now, if not always. There is much to recommend about this play, including at the top Jenny Pattrick’s writing and Lyndee-Jane Rutherford’s direction.

There are strong performances from all four of the cast members Perry Piercy, Mel Dodge, Jack Buchanan, and Tāmata Porter. And there is beautiful music — itself a character in the play, as well as literal soundtrack, piano pieces composed by Briar Prastiti, and recorded by Michael Houstoun, he gets name-checked in the script, in a fun meta-moment.

Hope is set in a near future where if you are “classified” it means the Government does not hold out hope for your terminal condition at all, and beyond pain relief you will not get medical care; they’re saving that for the young.

Ukrainian refugee piano teacher Irina (Peircy) is being cared for by her son Daniel (Porter). Her daughter Yulia (Dodge) returns from caring for others and is full of a different political attitude. Add to the mix famous pianist Adam (Buchanan), a former student of Irina’s — and thrown into the mix in a somewhat surprising way. That is the recipe. In a bedsit, these four characters will explore the themes that circle hope and whether hope has been removed, has a shelf life, is connected to money, or might be something you seek via the black market.

Black humour is laced throughout, and in particular this is where Peircy is 100% the star of the show. Her character is the connector, the feature, the throughline for the story and the other characters, but the actor that gives life to Irina brings an incredible gift of humour and comic timing; it’s one thing to be naturally funny and to give great line readings — quite another to offer all of that to a script that is not exactly playing for comedy. I often think the greatest ‘funny’ actors are those that can show their comedy chops through drama, and Perry Piercy was masterful here, absolutely mesmeric.

Hope hurtles along through its tight 90 minute single act — and gives the audience much to think about in the moments while it’s happening, and after. It was only in the final 15 minutes that I felt the side characters of Adam and Daniel were a little overwritten, forced into a strange fit of moralising to catch us up; the play very dialogue-driven and so we had all of this ‘extra’ to get through. The big serve to get us to the finishing line. This might sound like a bit of nitpicking, but as much as I loved a lot of what this play was about, and would still wholeheartedly recommend it to all, I felt like there was more to explore in a script that could have taken extra time. I have almost never said this, I usually want things to be shorter, not longer, but I ached for Hope to have an interval, and stronger human connections between its characters in a second act.

That said, this version of Hope is here to ask questions, and probe, and challenge, not to completely give you what its title hints around. There’s a question mark there more than any exclamation point. And for the performances and staging of this premiere alone, it is well worth seeing. And feeling.