The Hall is a powerful piece of theatre. Set in small-town New Zealand, the Greer household is a battlefield, as Alison struggles with the chaotic challenge of caring for her mother, Tup, who has frontotemporal dementia, while at the same time caring for her teenage daughter, Billie, who suffers from panic attacks.  Both Serena Cotton as Alison and Timmie Cameron as Billie are convincing in their roles, while Donogh Rees never falters as Tup.

Set in the round, the audience is already close to the action, but this sense of intimacy is further enhanced by some glorious sacred harp singing. A traditional American form of community choral music, where the singers sit facing each other, sacred harp began in New England some 200 years ago, before later spreading across the southern states. Ro Bright discovered this powerful form of music at a convention in Manhattan, and was so deeply moved by the experience she sought to incorporate sacred harp in her own theatre work. 

Dementia patients often respond positively to music and for Tup, in The Hall, sacred harp had been an interest for her through her life. So Alison and Billie decide the best way to recapture the old Tup could be by using the sacred harp experience.  

Enter Voices Aotearoa, from Auckland, who, under the masterful leadership of Nick Forbes combine with local singers to bring Pat Irwin’s sacred harp music alive. Spread across the audience, these singers add an intriguing and powerful dimension to the production. 

Though somewhat far-fetched, Alison and Billie’s plan to take Tup to Ireland to attend a sacred harp convention in Cork leads to the play’s climax. The trip cannot reverse Tup’s dementia but it does give the family one final opportunity to experience the Tup they have known and loved, before her inevitable further decline and death. 

Dementia is the third largest cause of death in New Zealand. The Hall gives us a sensitive and powerful insight into the challenges families face in coping with this most tragic of illnesses.

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