Wiener Festwochen: Alexander Zeldin - Faith, Hope and Charity - The Inequalities

The soup kitchen of a community centre in a major city somewhere in Britain. InAlexander Zeldin’s Faith, Hope and Charity, the latest contribution to his trilogy of inequalities, Hazel, a thoughtful and considerate cook, dishes out hot meals to those in need. Mason, the new volunteer, has the idea of setting up a choir. And Beth, a mother in desperate circumstances, is fighting for her daughter. Despite the welfare disputes and the generational conflicts, the community that emerges is a tender one. The characters surprise with a multi-layered depth. The precise performance skills of a cast comprised of professionals and untrained actors underscores the authenticity of the sensitive stage acting. Zeldin portrays different lives on the margins of society with tremendous empathy for the vulnerability of people left high and dry by the welfare system. ‘You can’t lose hope.’ And yet, in this hyper-realistic stage set, there is water dripping through the ceiling. The community centre is at risk of decay and of being sold.

The Inequalities is the heading under which up-and-coming director and dramatist Alexander Zeldin has combined three thrilling stand-alone evenings of theatre into a capitalism-critical trilogy. Next to Faith, Hope and Charity also LOVE is presented at the Wiener Festwochen.