Review: Charolais

Charolais

Bewley’s Cafe Theatre

****

"The woman who invented the best way to kill an animal was a vegetarian." Writer and performer Noni Stapleton steps on stage, covered in blood and brandishing a large carving-knife, as she begins the tale of Siobhán, a young woman in rural Ireland overcome with jealously by the relationship between the man she loves and a Charolais heifer. Stapleton's hour-long monologue invites the audience into the lonely world of a young pregnant woman, desperate for the affection of the father of her child, while trying to avoid the negative scrutiny of her partner's mother.

In a comedic performance that jumps between a resentful, distressed woman and an overtly sexual French cow, Stapleton succeeds in drawing the audience into a world of desire, lust and intense loneliness. This is a fast-paced, witty, and intensely emotional tale filled with laughter, loss and despair.

Ends Friday