Last Friday afternoon went to see The Choral at Odeon Holloway Road in London’s glitzy Holloway with Darce.
In this 1916-Yorkshire-mill-town tale scripted by Alan Bennett and directed by Nicholas Hytner the ever‐steady Ralph Fiennes plays Dr Henry Guthrie, a cultured choirmaster recently returned from Germany, and leads the local choral society into a bold staging of The Dream of Gerontius by Edward Elgar (portrayed in cameo by Simon Russell Beale).
Supporting leads include Roger Allam as the mill‐owner patron and Mark Addy among several stalwarts.
The plot: a choral society depleted by war recruits younger voices, tensions of class, grief and suppressed desires swirl, and music becomes the redemptive pulsing heart of a community in crisis.
It echoes the flavour of The History Boys and A Private Function (both Bennett classics) but without the full‐tilt farce and laughs; there is a heavier drift into melancholia and yearning rather than mischievous romp.
If you like ensemble British drama, choir rehearsal angst and the odd jolt of emotion you’ll get a decent return; just don’t expect bellylaughs and you might enjoy the quiet dignity of it.
