Anto Nolan's second play (his first, Too Much Too Young, was staged by the Passion Machine in 1995) is the 26th new Irish play to be presented by that same creative theatre company and, like most of the 25 that went before it, offers a lively evening of theatre with a local authenticity which holds the attention. Set in a back-lane upholstery shop (oodles of authenticity in Anne Gately's appropriately chaotic design), it occurs on the eve of upholsterer Johnnie's wedding to Fiona, and young Stevo wants to be invited to the stag party to which all his workshop mates seem to be going. But young Gerard, the apprentice, subjected to a gruesome rite of passage in the trade, involving glue and a sensitive area of his anatomy, locks the lads into the shop. Meanwhile, it becomes apparent that Davy, the hands-on proprietor, may be thinking of moving shop and selling them out.
The theatrical theme is one of chaotic uncertainty, and this is well worked through by both the author and the excellent ensemble playing of the company. But there are other, deeper, themes being suggested throughout and, unfortunately, the text does not give enough information as to the roots of why Davy wants to sell or move, or what is Gerard's relationship to his mother, or just what is the provenance of each of the individual characters, so that everyone seems to be just a variant of everyone else. The jokes and the immediate action come through thick and fast under Alan Archbold's efficient direction, but everything remains superficial and the suggested depths are not explored adequately, so that the audience is left with no reason to care much about anyone or any issue in the piece. Without dramatic substance, the evening is more like an extended sketch of 85 minutes' duration than like a full drama.
Stephen Rice, Paul Nolan, Brendan Laird, Les Martin, Mick Nolan, Eamonn Hunt, Karl Shiels, Stephen Dunne and Ciaran McMahon deserve credit for their performances but, without just a mite more dramatic substance in the play to enable them to create their characters in more depth, they cannot compel us to care what happens to them, any more than the author can provide us with a real insight into their lives or their situation.
Continues until July 10th. To book, phone: 1850 260027.
