When Frank's ex-wife, lover and son gather for the first time, it's because his life is already spent, and so is every penny he ever had. He has left less than nothing, not even enough for a funeral.
Two weeks after his death, Frank's corpse is still in a seedy funeral parlour that, judging by Lorna Ritchie's design, is itself feeling the squeeze, although surely dying is one thing people don't stop doing in a recession.
Here in the glum waiting room, Frank's estate agent son, Martin, who has financial problems of his own, Frank's hysterical lover Eithne, and first wife Brenda, who held a candle for him to the end, meet and tussle with the fallout of a live-now-pay-later culture.
Theatre 503's Rapid Write commission is a terrific idea, allowing playwrights to respond to the moment and produce a topical piece of theatre that is written and staged within weeks. The problem with Jane Bodie's three-hander is that despite its titular reference to Alexandra Burke's Christmas hit and allusions to the credit crunch, it feels neither urgent nor particularly topical.
Of course, Hallelujah is as much about the high emotional cost of living as it is about down payments on a funeral. Despite gutsy performances, Bodie's play always states the obvious and has characters who, even allowing for grief, behave in ways that suit the playwright but bear scant resemblance to reality. Still, it's a reminder that while some of us are prudent and some of us live beyond our means, we are all cremated equal.
• This article was amended on Tuesday 17 March 2009. Our review of Hallelujah, at Theatre 503 in London, misnamed the playwright as Jane Brodie. She is Jane Bodie. This has been corrected.
