SITE GUIDE
SEARCH
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Connecticut
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
Writing for Us
A CurtainUp 
London Review
London ReviewMoment
|
It's always the same isn't it Mam - resort to the pills or the puke because otherwise you'll have to look at it, won't you! Look at us and see . . . really see — Niamh
|
Deirdre Donnelly as Mam and Ronan Leahy as Nial (Photo: Geraint Lewis) |
It seems to be a hallmark of Irish plays that the mothers fuss over their sons and take the girls for granted. Teresa goes off to the shops to buy, for her important visitor, quiche, which used to be her home made speciality and she has a happy thought that her whole family will be together and not only will they be together she imagines that they might be in harmony. It becomes obvious that Niamh has no wish to see her brother and the tension in her body language tells us that something is very wrong in her relationship with her brother. Niamh loses her purse and is forced to return to her mother's home although she had planned not to be there at the same time as Nial.
Nial arrives with Ruth (Rebecca O'Mara) in tow, a Englishwoman and motivator for this family visit but while she expects a cosy family reunion what develops is very different. Although everyone is on very best behaviour and Ruth is layering on the sacharin sweetness, anxious to be liked, there is a nasty undercurrent here. Two bombshells are dropped. Ruth and Neil were married the day before with none of his family there and Ruth lets slip that her mother wasn't totally happy about her marrying Nial because of his "history". Fifteen years ago Nial went to prison for the murder of 12 year old Hilary, the best friend of his sister Niamh. We see flashback scenes, of Niamh and Hilary together having fun.
Nial is now a moderately successful artist; prison has been the making of him and he has moved on with the help of curator Ruth but his family have been trapped, living with the effects of his crime, atoning daily in the community for his sin and their being tainted by association. As the evening progresses so the pain starts to emerge and Ruth starts to regret upsetting the false equilibrium by insisting on meeting Nial's family. We groan when Teresa announces she has money for Nial and none for her daughters, money he doesn't even want.
The performances are totally convincing in this production which has come from County Meath where director David Horan directed it first in November 2009. The Tesco bought quiche becomes something of a running joke. In between the agony there is humour, closely observed family quirks to lighten the terrible tragedy and start a debate as to who are the victims of a crime. Deirdre Kinahan's play puts this family's dysfunction and denial under a shattering magnifying glass. It is interesting to hear about the impact of crime on the family of the perpetrator, something not often written about.
|
Subscribe to our FREE email updates with a note from editor Elyse Sommer about additions to the website -- with main page hot links to the latest features posted at our numerous locations. To subscribe,
E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com
put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message -- if you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country. |
| Moment
Written by Deirdre Kinahan Directed by David Horan Starring: Maeve Fitzgerald, Deirdre Donnelly, Rebecca O'Mara, Ronan Leary, Kate Nic Chonaonaigh With: Will Joseph Irvine, Karl Quinn, Aela O'Flynn Set Design: Maeve Kearns Costume Design: Elaine Chapman Lighting: Moyra Darcy Sound: Alun Smyth Running time: Two hours and 10 minutes including an interval Box Office: 020 8743 3584 Booking to 26th March 2011 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 28th February 2011 performance at the Bush Theatre, Shepherd's Bush Green, London, W12 8QD (Tube: Shepherd's Bush) |
|
REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email . . . also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review. |
