“Where this play falls apart is the elocution and thick Irish accents … too much dialogue is lost … It’s a mess. “
Con Nats
2 Stars
County Mayo is a quiet Irish town where not much happens, apart from lots of banter. They are visited by a shy awkward young man late one night.
Christie is a troubled lad. He’s on the run after striking his father a heavy head blow, leaving him for dead. Instead of shunning him, the locals love him, the girls are swooning and he’s winning hearts and horse races. And then a visitor arrives.
This is an old Irish classic and has drawn a top cast. Nicola Coughlan and Siobhán McSweeney were in The Derry Girls together. Éanna Hardwicke as Christie mixes his awkwardness and growing confidence nicely and there are well travelled actors in the cast.
Director Caitríona McLaughlin’s set design is very good, as are the transitions which use pagan silhouettes and lrish music to set the mood.
Where this play falls apart is the elocution and thick Irish accents. It’s too hard to understand and too much dialogue is lost. The Irish are hard enough to comprehend; make them drunk and slurring and it’s easier to talk underwater with a newborn. It’s a mess.
I’m not exaggerating. I’ve never seen so many people leave consistently during screening. Some left after ten and others gave up ten minutes from the end.
This resulted in jokes and lines being lost. The rich comedy didn’t quite come through and the fickle townsfolk come across as callous rather than comical. And when Pegeen‘s father went into a drunken rant, it was just annoying drivel. I could not understand a word.
This was very disappointing and the responsibility of the director. McLaughlin might want to be true to the play’s roots, but you need to remember you are serving an audience. And by ignoring them, you do not serve the work. And that is a sin not as grievous as killing your father but one this audience did not forgive.
Con Nats, On The Screen
