Reunion
Black Box Theatre, Galway
★★★★★
“All I wanted was for us all to have a nice time together! ... for Seán. We never even reminisced about him.” Cathy Belton’s Elaine, the mother, is the fulcrum of this family, gathered at their holiday home on an island off the west coast, ostensibly to remember the father, but ultimately to unearth buried tensions.
Elaine’s three children Marilyn (Valene Kane), Maurice (Robert Sheehan) and Janice (Venetia Bowe) and their respective partners Ciaran (Leonard Buckley), Holly (Simone Collins) and Stuart (Desmond Eastwood) have landed, with all the affection and familiarity and little snipes and passive aggressions that go with families gathering.
Elaine’s sister Gina (Catherine Walker) joins them, fresh from her partner leaving after 13 years “so he could sleep with other women”. Dragged along too is Felix (Stephen Brennan), Holly’s dad, an outsider ill at ease with the family. The catalyst Aonghus (Ian Lloyd Anderson), Marilyn’s ex, throws a grenade among them. A superlative cast on Francis O’Connor’s pleasing domestic set with stairs and kitchen and table and window to the unseen wild sea.
Family dynamics are fertile territory for drama. The set-up you can’t get away from – here, the island – is also classic. Of course suppressed emotions and antagonisms will emerge. On the face of it, it’s familiar territory, but in the hands of Mark O’Rowe – he writes and directs – this is exceptional, and is a terrific opening show for Galway International Arts Festival, presented with Landmark Productions.
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Multiple characters’ individual dramas seep out; the plotting and structure are complex, and each character is distinct and believable, both as written and as played. As tensions rise, regrets, anger, resentments and bitterness emerge, within several overlapping storylines. Perhaps unexpectedly, there’s a great deal of humour. It is emotionally affecting along with the fun. This is an enormously enjoyable play.
How do you single out performances in a multigenerational ensemble of excellent actors, singing in unison with seeming ease? Belton’s complexity and utter translucence in a subtly written role. Kane’s face during her ex’s visit. Brennan subtly evoking what’s behind a dull, emotionally frozen man. Sheehan’s life ahead written on his face. Walker’s breezy confidence with brittle pain below the surface. All 10 of the cast excel.
This is a play-play, an old-fashioned format in the best and most welcome way, with meaty characters, multi-layered action, emotional entanglements. It is just a joy to watch. Over one hour, 40 minutes it does not flag for a second. A zinger.
Continues at Black Box Theatre, as part of Galway International Arts Festival, until July 27th
