Much Ado About Dying

BBFC RatingMuch Ado About Dying

Showing: 19 May 2024 until 23 May 2024

Show Times

Select a time below to book

Sun 19 May 2024
Mon 20 May 2024
Tue 21 May 2024
Wed 22 May 2024
Thu 23 May 2024

Certificate15
Year2022
GenreDocumentary
Director(s)Simon Chambers
LanguageEnglish
CountryUK
Running Time1HR 23MINS
SeasonMain Programme

When filmmaker Simon Chambers cuts short a shoot in India to tend to his dying uncle, he has no idea of the journey they’re about to embark on together.

It begins with a voicemail: ‘I think I may be dying’. Chambers’ octogenarian uncle, long-retired actor David Newlyn Gale, isn’t quite at death’s door. Nevertheless, his health has deteriorated in recent years. He lives in an unsuitable flat, sustaining himself on cans of soup, keeping himself warm with a small army of electric heaters and battling a mice infestation with toothpaste. It soon becomes clear that his greatest sources of nourishment are literature and theatre. And he sees in his nephew, who is also gay, a like-minded creative soul.

Between the Shakespearean monologues, Much Ado About Dying presents an intimate, occasionally funny and ultimately moving portrait of a solitary life and a quietly critical assessment of the inadequate resources available in the UK for a rapidly ageing population.

The 3.00pm screening on Sun 19 May will be followed by a Q&A with director Simon Chambers.

"In its refreshingly frank look at the end of life, Much Ado About Dying becomes a thought-provoking study of what it means to live." Screen Daily