Today's reviews span many disciplines with the accent very much on fun.
Boys' Life
Andrews Lane Studio, Dublin
The eponymous boys in this play by American Howard Korder, first produced in 1988 when it was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, are actually three young men in their 20s. Here they are converted into Irishmen, a device that sits uncomfortably with the dialogue and ambience of the action, which has a transatlantic feel to it.
But the play's the thing, and this one has not worn its age with distinction. It is structured in a series of short, staccato scenes that make individual points, but do not accumulate to a comprehensive study of its characters. There are occasional laughs, but it takes itself seriously, and so must the audience, for 90 minutes or so.
Jack is the coolest but least rooted of the trio. Even though he is married with a son, he chases women and sex wherever he can, while his wife is the breadwinner. He sneers at his square friends, even though his need for them is manifest; a real loser. Don is the most balanced, although he almost loses his chance for a stable life by a mindless act of infidelity. Phil is neurotic and romantic, frightening women off by the intensity of his pursuit. But he is also decent, with a lot of personal integrity.
The play ripples through its scenes; Jack pursues adulterous liaisons, Phil agonises endlessly and Don marries his girl Lisa. His wedding day leaves them all in situ, still immature, chasing fulfillment. The cast, directed by Graham Cantwell, have their moments, particularly Emmet Scanlan, Cillian Roche and Karl Argue as the boys, but they have yet to add a layer of experience to their ensemble talents.
Runs until February 26th
Gerry Colgan
Danny La Rue: Danny Comes Home
Everyman Palace, Cork
These are different, and perhaps difficult days for Danny La Rue, but his appearance in a dazzling array of stage personalities at the Everyman Palace is met with such a warmth of welcome that no good purpose is served by an attempt at critical evaluation. Different days in that some of his impersonations, while delivered with unfaltering verve, are lost on an audience not familiar with his UK-based points of theatrical reference. Difficult days in that the 77-year-old trouper (a description he would probably accept) finds the high-heeled and sequined extravaganza of his costumes less easy to carry off than in earlier times.
The ultimate professional, he works in such supportive rapport with his musical ensemble of David Carter and Shaun Forde that the occasional hesitation fuses almost seamlessly with a song or a reminiscence, and he still has the skill to transform small moments into great ones in a carefully-paced arrangement of acts which ensures that every entrance is a grand one.
Feathered and frilled in a carapace of diamanté, his very presence has an air of command. A 20-minute interval introduces a second-half interview led by John Creedon as an exploration of the man who began life in Cork as Danny Carroll and who has never lost the connection with his birth-place, relatives or religion.
Billed as an "intimate evening", the show is perfectly matched to the late-Victorian palace of varieties style of the Everyman; this also suits the soft-voiced, slow-burning comedy of guest comedian Al Banim's domestic banter, a clever foil to the high-voltage delivery of the entertainer Cork readily calls its own.
Runs until Saturday
Mary Leland
The Merry Widow
National Concert Hall, Dublin
The Glasnevin Musical Society is celebrating the centenary of The Merry Widow at the National Concert Hall in a version that differs from the one premièred in Vienna in December 1905. Ronald Hanmer's simplified edition for amateurs, one that replaces Franz Lehár's instrumental colouring with pit-band orchestrations, puts most of the solos into lower keys and provides additional music for the chorus, turning this quintessential Viennese operetta into something more akin to an Edwardian musical comedy.
The score is adroitly paced by Colman Pearce, who draws fine playing from his musicians and maintains good balance between them and the amplified voices on stage. In ensembles, though, the radio-miked soloists tend to drown out the chorus.
Director Noel McDonough moves the spoken episodes along crisply and remains steadfastly faithful to the period ethic of the piece, but he shouldn't allow some of the characters to adopt "foreign" accents.
Virginia Kerr is a seasoned Widow who dominates every scene in which she appears. Her voice nowadays has an added warmth in mid-range, but she is still mistress of those floated high phrases that make her singing of Vilja the show's musical highlight, and well worth its encore.
Opposite her, as Count Danilo, Thorbjørn Gulbrandsøy is a mite stiff. But the Norwegian's healthy young baritone has all the vocal glamour needed, and his English diction, both spoken and sung, is impeccable.
The clandestine affair between the ambassador's wife and her French lover loses out through lack of chemistry between mezzo Mary Flaherty and tenor Paul Byrom. Both sing well, but their second-act duet provides none of its potential erotic tension. Flaherty, however, fronts the grisette ensemble with considerable aplomb.
Spot-on timing enhances the comedy duo of Des Managhan and Jimmy Dixon, and Marina Kealy's team of dancers top a succession of wellexecuted routines with a show-stopping can-can.
Runs until Saturday
John Allen
