Energetic revival, and an orchestral tour de force
THEATRE DUBLIN BY LAMPLIGHT ABBEY THEATRE, DUBLIN
This high-energy revival of a Corn Exchange 2004 show, written by Michael West in collaboration with the company, affectionately lampoons the Abbey Theatre founders, and cleverly creates pastiches of the Irish literary tradition, dipping its toe into Oscar Wilde, Sean O’Casey, and William Butler Yeats, to hilarious effect.
It is 1904—the year the Abbey was founded, and the year in which Joyce’s
Ulysses is set. A new company called the Irish National Theatre of Ireland is being established. The opening night of their play, The Wooing of Emer, coincides with protests at a visit of the English king.
Early Corn Exchange productions like this one used the commedia dell’arte style, where the actors have white painted faces and present the lines straight to the audience. This sounds highfalutin but in reality, it’s an accessible method which cuts rapidly to the comic centre. There are lightningquick costume changes into 30 characters and most props are mimed. Conor Linehan plays his own delightful piano score live on the side of the stage. Director Annie Ryan gets brilliant performances from all, but the standout is Louis Lovett.
The first half is tremendous fun. There is a substantial tonal shift in the second half, and the frolicsome style has difficulty sustaining this darker material. But while the more serious stuff doesn’t quite come off, it is right that it is there and it doesn’t undermine the whole. Plays can be highly entertaining and necessary without being perfect, just like national theatres.
At the Abbey Theatre until April 1