Fran Kranz's 2021 film Mass, which follows two sets of parents whose sons died in a high-school massacre, was originally conceived as a play. Now staged at the Donmar Warehouse in a production directed by Carrie Cracknell, the drama unfolds in the backroom of a church where an intense encounter between the couples encapsulates a painful instance of restorative justice.
The Premise
Gail (Lyndsey Marshal) and Jay (Adeel Akhtar) are the parents of Evan, one of ten children murdered by the teenage shooter, Hayden. Hayden is the son of Richard (Paul Hilton) and Linda (Monica Dolan), who subsequently killed himself. Evan's parents seek to understand why Hayden committed such violence, but an unspoken sense of blame pervades the room. Hayden's parents address this first, stating that they blame themselves repeatedly. Yet in one dangerous moment, they propose separating who their son was from what he did.
Staging and Emotional Depth
The stark, unflinching treatment of the subject matter is well realized on Anna Yates's set, where two office-style stories stretch across the stage. The production does not sugarcoat the emotionally messy nature of the process, exploring both sides. One terrible instance of maternal anguish comes from Linda when she speaks about a threatening memory of her son. For this charged moment, the play enters the emotional territory of Lionel Shriver's We Need To Talk About Kevin.
Kranz's script deftly swerves away from debates on gun violence. The parents have not made the journey to talk politics, Gail makes clear, but to enter into much more personal terrain. Like Jack Thorne's Adolescence, it also throws into relief the issue of troubled teenage boys who retreat into online silos.
Performances
It is hard to beat the force and sensitive performances of Kranz's film, but Hilton is masterfully brittle, his entire being sunken with apology, while Dolan is whey-faced and shaky. The always brilliant Akhtar is angrier and edgier than his film counterpart, and Marshal brings a moving softness. Like the film, the play takes time to build in intensity, with awkward arrangements in the opening and small talk. There is not the same reflective space as the film, which pulls away from the claustrophobia and pain at key moments. Here, there is no looking away.
Themes
The play works on two levels: as a drama of forgiveness and of polarization. What would happen if any of us sat down with those at the furthest ideological extreme from our own, however unpalatable their views? Listening is the pathway toward empathy for these characters, even if there is desire for vengeance or vindication along the way. By the end, they are all parents who have lost sons, grieving over this tragedy in different ways.
Mass is at the Donmar Warehouse, London, until 6 June.
