EVERYBODY NEEDS GOOD NEIGHBOURS
Dodgy dialogue lets down tale of civic duty
Shaun Dunne’s first play for the Abbey has plenty of topical themes with potential for dramatic impact: responsibility of parents towards children, children towards parents, neighbours towards neighbours, residents towards their estate, and even the responsibilities of the local council. Throw in the difficulties of individual relationships and you have the bones of a good drama.
But it has to compete with some overwritten dialogue that often spells out everything so much that it becomes pure melodrama. And an overload of expletives doesn’t make up for that. A tighter script would turn it into a sharper slice of life.
Centre stage are Gary (Alan Mahon) and Martin (Lloyd Cooney), early 20s, long-time friends on the verge of a breakup as they veer in different directions. But Martin has a plan. The opening of a new playground is an opportunity for them to organise a football league for local children – a possible source of money and good for the estate. As things are, people are dumping their stinking rubbish at the back gate of a reclusive old woman.
The characters are generally well drawn, apart from Martin’s mother (Jasmine Russell), who has some villainy implied about her purely as a plot device.
Neighbour Denise (Louise Lewis) is the calming influence. She’s given occasional references to her daughter to expand her character and is lumbered with some clunky dialogue about life and friendship. But amid all the talk there’s not a single sentence about any man past or present in any of their lives.
As a cautionary tale, there’s a tel- evision programme that spells out the nature of people who hoard, alerting consciences to the plight of the reclusive old neighbour.
This is all leading up to a final epiphany for Gary’s mother Bernie (Ger Ryan), the most selfrighteous character on view.
Reservations aside, it’s good to see The Peacock giving this sort of emerging talent a voice. Lloyd Cooney and Alan Mahon handle their confrontations well, and the female cast do their best with the dialogue at their disposal.