IN this, the second part of Brimstone's ambitious production of Tankred Dorst's (with Ursula Ehler) adaption of the Arthurian legend, a hardworking cast battle with a riotous, slightly satiric, but wayward tragicomedy in striving for a consistent, or even coherent, tone. Admittedly the production itself, with the effective scaffold set, sophisticated use of music and occasionally, inventive lighting, frequently upstages the performances.
The first half, though dominated by Gerard Lee's lively Merlin, is very disappointing, as the minor characters flounder, resorting to shouted recitation, as if intimidated by Merlin's burlesquely camp comedy. After the interval, there is a notable improvement in both performance and script. Tim Casey's Mordred achieves an excellent balance of malevolence and spoilt boy petulance.
His confident playing eventually manages to draw some semblance of conviction from Ciaran McMahon's King Arthur, whose performance develops dramatically from a weak beginning to a convincing portrait of a man facing failure. In contrast to the cool self possession of Susannah De Wrixon's elegantly despairing Guinevere, is Stewart Roche's wooden Lancelot. David Kiernan has his moments as the increasingly crazed Gawain, but it is Andrew Lovern, making the most of the small role of Gareth, who comes closest to challenging Casey's wonderful villain.
Director Cliona Maher should take another look, not only at some of the cast but at a sprawling script, in which the comedy backfires and repeatedly lessens the potential tragedy. The fight scenes are well done, but everyone, cast as well as audience, would benefit from some cuts to the script.
Certainly a brave but messy effort in which the players are at the mercy of the script, which itself needs all the help it can get from higher standards of playing than are achieved by this company.
