I left the premiere of Tara Maria Lovett's first full-length play, The Suck, with no sense of having been involved by the story, no consciousness of a theme of any note informing its development, or any faith in the credibility of the four characters. It just didn't work for me.
At its centre is a young man, Rannoch, who has not spoken for 10 years. His father disappeared some time ago, and he now lives alone with his possessive mother. A local priest is his cousin, unhappy and troubled, and there is a neighbour, Dino, who bullies Rannoch sadistically. At the end of an uneventful first act, Rannoch appears to kill Dino by breaking his neck.
Here the author's fancy really takes flight as Rannoch, directed by the head of a dead heifer which he worships, brings Dino back to life by feeding him from his nipple, and begins to talk again.
A turgid explanation emerges for his former muteness, to do with his father's abuse and the silence of his mother and cousin. It ends inconclusively in a melodramatic cop-out.
As is often the case with raw, pseudo-tough writing, there is a great sentimental streak running through the play, to do with breast milk as a source of life and liberation.
It is filtered through the mother's dialogue and the whole business of Rannoch's unearthly lactation, an idea surely gone astray.
I could not get into the spirit of Melanie Rodger's set design, either.
It resembled a patch of cutaway bog made to serve as a house, a church and a general outdoors without suggesting any of them.
The actors - Gavin McCaffrey, Billie Traynor, Declan Mills and Sean Whelan, directed by David Horan - gave the play their best endeavours, but it was not for redemption. A pity.
Runs to September 1st; booking at 1850- 260027