Have a laugh at the time we all cried
Are You There, Garth? It’s Me, Margaret
Verdict: Lots of jokes, with a jab
FIONA LOONEY, writer and Mail columnist, is a well estabished comic writer but can she carry off drama too? Can she make us cry tears other than those of laughter?
Her latest play Are You There Garth? It’s Me Margaret is a bit Shirley Valentine and a bit The Full Monty (without the dirty bits, before y’all get too excited!).
Laugh out loud moments are plentiful, but the musings of Margaret (Deirdre O’Kane), a working mum of three who chats away to the world’s biggest selling country artist as she goes about her chores in the kitchen of her home, throw up some serious issues too.
Her youngest child is autistic and her husband is diminished having lost his job in the crash. She’s disillusioned, broke and just about holding herself — and the rest of her family — together.
She’s also very, very funny, as only the Irish can be in a crisis. Then who comes along but Garth, back from semi-retirement and planning five gigs at Croker. That puts a spring in Margaret’s step. Her husband gets them tickets to the first concert, one of the two that’s guaranteed planning permission. So whatever happens she should be safe... right?
As Margaret’s story unfolds, so too does the Garth Brooks debacle, in all its cringeworthy glory. Maclean Burke, Stephen Jones and Jonathan White are excellent as a variety of characters ranging from the Mexican ambassador (remember his intervention?), to disgruntled residents, GAA bosses, promoter Peter Aiken, that guy who launched an injunction, and Brooks’ lackeys.
Enda Kenny’s portrayal is one of the highlights, owing much to Star Trek android Data; while Maclean is fine in voice as the country superstar.
For all the hilarity, Looney’s jokes occasionally carry a jab, especially in her imagining of Dublin City Council’s planning meetings, which is the closest she comes to really putting the boot in.
After Peter Aiken’s efforts to personally persuade the singer to change his schedule fail, Garth’s own words need no embellishment. His ‘I will crawl...’ speech — repeated here in full — now sounds ridiculous and overblown. But then time has passed and it’s easy to forget just how devastated 400,000 ticketholders (and that man with 20,000 pink sparkly stetsons) felt when it all finally fell apart.
When Margaret realises it’s all over, that there will be no night in a hotel or drinks at 6pm, I felt a tear come to my eye. It was there for her and for every other person driven to breaking point, and beyond, trying to raise their family during the austerity years.
Are you there Garth? had its opening night on the same day Michael Noonan delivered a Budget that finally gave some breathing space to many like Margaret, which for me gave her moments more poignancy.
When Fiona announced she was writing this play, it was questioned whether it was ‘too soon’ to talk about the international embarrassment that was the Garth Brooks fiasco. Would we ever be able to see that mess reflected back at us and laugh? As I watched Deirdre O’Kane triumph as Margaret, hardy and hopeful in the face of adversity, I realised we could — at Garthgate anyway. The other mess, I’m not so sure.