Tricycle, London
Billy Roche made his name with the unforgettable Wexford Trilogy. But while his new play deals with a rundown roadshow in a manner reminiscent of Brian Friel's Crystal and Fox, and has moments of poignant lyricism, it depends too much on off-stage action and rarely achieves the riveting immediacy of Roche's famous portrait of Wexford life.
It's the early 1960s, and the setting is the boxing booth of an itinerant carnival that's come to rest in small-town Ireland. Everything has a dilapidated feel, from the broken turnstile to the relationship between Theo, the roadshow's owner, and Lily, his abrasive cashier. Two unexpected arrivals spark the drama into life: one is Theo's long-abandoned daughter, the other an old pro who takes on the challenge of Theo's resident scrapper to fight all comers.
However, we never get to see either of the play's two boxing bouts, which, after Roy Williams's vivid Sucker Punch, feels a let-down. This typifies a work in which too much of the action happens elsewhere and the dramatic momentum is delayed while characters reminisce about the past. This leads to passages of fine writing, such as when Theo recalls his father's East End boxing club, or when Lily relives her origins in a one-horse Irish town called Knocknanoo. But although, in drama, the past should always influence the present, it should never become the main source of theatrical interest. Admittedly, Roche directs his own play with an atmospheric feel for time and place and there are strong performances from Gary Lydon, with his Brendan Behan profile, as Theo, Simone Kirby as his quarrelsome lover, and Michael O'Hagan as his mysteriously loyal sidekick. I enjoyed the acting, even if the play itself lacks the muscular tension of real drama.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2011/jul/13/lay-me-down-softly-review
No comments:
Post a Comment