Ulster American

It’s very rare to hear an audience roar with laughter one minute and gasp out loud at the onstage action the next. But that’s exactly what happened at the Ensemble Theatre when the opening night audience was faced with this brilliantly brutal satire by Irish playwright David Ireland.

Returning to Sydney after playing at the Seymour Centre two years ago with the same cast and director, the play shows every sign of being a classic: big laughs from the start, gasps as the plot unravels and thunderous applause by the finish. Do yourself a favour and don’t miss this play, this cast, this production.

David Ireland’s little gem is set in the London home of director Leigh (Brian Meegan), the day before production begins on a new stage play set in Northern Ireland. Leigh has a difficult conversation with his newly arrived star, Jay Conway (Jeremy Waters), a big-time Hollywood movie actor who has seen better days. Obviously this actor is going to be a handful for this director.

In an extremely funny conversation, the subject of rape is casually mentioned which leaves a bad taste for when, arriving late and flustered, comes 36-year-old writer Ruth (Harriet Gordon-Anderson), with a thick Northern Irish accent.

At first flattered by her big star and attentive director, Ruth is very protective of her play and of the changes that director and lead actor look like they’re going to make. It doesn’t take long for the temperature of the room to get very hot indeed. Ruth doesn’t want any changes made and, to cap it all, is revealed as a full-on right-winger.

The playwright brilliantly captures the bewilderment of a generation that knows the rules have changed but is hopelessly and hilariously inadequate at putting this knowledge into action.

Exceptionally good are the threesome who proceed from friendly disagreement all the way to downright, murderous aggression. And that’s not all... not by a long chalk... and the audience were completely hooked!

It’s all brilliantly choreographed by director Shane Anthony and staged in partnership with Outhouse Theatre. In the words of the play, it’s ‘as Irish as a fucking potato’.

Frank Hatherley

Photographer: Prudence Upton