Trifled
New Theatre, Temple Bar
★★★☆☆
“Hi guys, it’s me: Stickyslut69!″ is not exactly a line one expects to hear in a play about mental illness, but Caitlin Magnall-Kearns’s Trifled, which dissects that narrative admirably, shows that a topic such as this one need not be set within the confines of a hospital bed.
Trifled opens with Jen, a young Northern Irish woman whose agoraphobia has rendered her housebound for two years. But we’re not asked for sympathy. Jen is not a victim. She is swearing, combative, sex positive and entrepreneurial. She films niche pornographic content for her Only Fans and spends endless hours scowling at daytime TV. A love for the latter is shared by Harry, a heartbroken English university lecturer who lands on her doorstep. The pair talk, cry, joke and move in a way that feels intimate, true and human.
The result is a comedic retelling of a modern romance, one in which everyone needs saving and no one is a prince. The intimacy of the New Theatre leans into this idea beautifully; you feel as if you could reach out and touch the low self-worth that haunts Jen, who is played convincingly by Laura McAleenan. The Lír graduate is joined by Mark Fitzgerald, who gives a touching portrayal of the mild-mannered Harry, a man at a crossroads, who is gently caressing Jen into the person he wishes her to be.
Magnall-Kearns was chosen from thousands to be part of the BBC Comedy Collective for 2024. Trifled’s most reliable comic strategy is poking fun at what’s most obvious: the ridiculous nature of an agoraphobic porn creator; the slapstick of pouring jelly down one’s trousers. In the end the show turns to sentiment to keep our hummingbird brains engaged: Harry pivots from submissive to dominant, and Jen begins to fill out the parts she has left dormant for some time.
Dublin Theatre Festival announces Róise Goan as new artistic director
Changing career midlife: ‘At 45 I thought I was finished... But it didn’t even occur to me that I could do anything else’
Murmur: The young audience gasp and laugh, mesmerised by this playful, inventive performance
Content: Hate speech, revenge porn and an exploding dog – A gripping portrayal of the human cost of sanitising social media
Despite some awkwardness, Magnall-Kearns’s play, which is loosely inspired by her own experience of agoraphobia, does an excellent job of showing us the reality-irreality fault line. In the end we learn that her characters are more than the sum of their parts – and to always remember that we don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors.
Though Trifled may tell a seemingly simple story – boy meets girl; love ensues – we know that nothing could be less simple or more daunting. Trifled shines a light inward rather than panning out to survey the cultural field. The production, as a result, is bawdy, line-crossing, occasionally moving and always fun.
Continues at the New Theatre, as part of Dublin Theatre Festival, until Saturday, October 12th
