Not one of Dion Boucicault's best conceived or best constructed melodramas, this convoluted tale of thwarted passion, thoughtless fealty and an almost accidental triumph of good over wickedness offers Conall Morrison yet another opportunity to demonstrate that he is one of this country's most inventive, creative and original directors of theatre.
With a series of recurrent reminders that we are watching a theatrical contrivance that should not be taken either straight or seriously, his production still manages to convey most of the genuine sentiment the author wrote into his original 1860 script, although Francis O'Connor's admirably flexible and effective setting of mobile planking eschews the author's passion for realistic and elaborate stage effects.
The tale is of Hardress Cregan and his socially impracticable love for the beautiful penniless eponymous Eily O'Connor even as his mother tries to restore the family's failing fortunes by proclaiming his betrothal to the wealthy and beautiful Anne Chute (the Colleen Ruadh), so that the wicked lawyer Corrigan can be thwarted of his attempt to foreclose on the estate's mortgage. Hardress is unquestioningly supported by his faithful Danny Mann, the boatman who rows him across the lake to see the lovely Eily who, in turn, is loved by the bootlegging Myles na Coppaleen.
Meanwhile, the lovely Miss Chute is loved by the ever-soupright Kyrle Daly, Hardress's best friend, who must soon return to sea. The plot progresses by a series of confusions, misunderstandings, eavesdroppings, misplaced letters and largely irrelevant sub-plots involving the tippling Father Tom, Danny's mother and more. It is also (most effectively) interrupted by song and dance - although the necessary amplification of some of the singing voices is seriously non-directional and not all of David Bolger's lively choreography benefits from precision in the footwork.
Conor Linehan's original score, played throughout by himself and a small band on stage, is a most effective blend of the Celtic and the cinematic which holds the mood and the action together nearly perfectly - a difficult task in the half-hour or so before the interval, when there is much dialogue and little opportunity for the introduction of some more of the director's livelier staged interventions. The acting is sometimes uneven but holds steadfast to the need to keep true to character rather than to caricature.
Peter O'Meara's Hardress is blissfully breathlessly dramatic as he meets each fresh disaster in his love life and the family fortunes and his performance is perfectly mirrored by Barbara Brennan as his mother. Alison McKenna's Anne Chute is forthright, businesslike and sharp, and Sean Rocks is the living personification of dumb dutiful honesty, while Bosco Hogan might have demonstrated a mite more obvious villainy without sacrificing character to caricature. Darragh Kelly is a lively Myles, and the performance of the night comes from Pat Kinevane's twisted, deformed and pathetic Danny Mann, always on the edge of reality but never over the top.
The whole was greeted with a genuine standing ovation, which it well deserved. Early booking is advised for another successful Abbey show.
Continues until September 25th. To book, telephone: (01) 878 7222 or (01) 456 9569.
