Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh
3 stars
Who do therapists turn to when their own lives are collapsing down around them? That’s one of the questions asked in Conor McPherson’s 2004 play, which became a Broadway hit following its London premiere at the Royal Court. If you’re an ex Catholic priest with an increasingly alienated girlfriend and a new baby living with your parents, as is man at the centre of things here, dealing with issues is more than just about business. When a recently widowed man walks into Ian’s office claiming to have seen the ghost of his dead wife, faith, belief and a need to purge the past rip both men’s’ lives asunder.
Michael Emans’ new look at the play for his ever enterprising and prolific Rapture Theatre only fleetingly gets to the heart of such matters, despite a fine turn by Michael Glenn Murphy as John, who eventually confesses all. Much of this is actually down to the writing, which is so conventionally small at times as to appear unremarkable. McPherson really comes into his own during the pivotal scene whereby John unleashes a shaggy dog story which takes in the extended circumstances leading up to his wife’s death. Only then does a play which looks initially to be about grieving take a darker turn.
After such a fantastic monologue, however, things look over-blocked and awkwardly staged enough to lose the play the most subtle dramatic urgency if its final scene is to pack the required wallop to shock. This can be ironed out over Rapture’s extensive tour. Even now, though, the final, utterly unexpected moment is to die for.
The Herald, March 3rd 2008
ends
3 stars
Who do therapists turn to when their own lives are collapsing down around them? That’s one of the questions asked in Conor McPherson’s 2004 play, which became a Broadway hit following its London premiere at the Royal Court. If you’re an ex Catholic priest with an increasingly alienated girlfriend and a new baby living with your parents, as is man at the centre of things here, dealing with issues is more than just about business. When a recently widowed man walks into Ian’s office claiming to have seen the ghost of his dead wife, faith, belief and a need to purge the past rip both men’s’ lives asunder.
Michael Emans’ new look at the play for his ever enterprising and prolific Rapture Theatre only fleetingly gets to the heart of such matters, despite a fine turn by Michael Glenn Murphy as John, who eventually confesses all. Much of this is actually down to the writing, which is so conventionally small at times as to appear unremarkable. McPherson really comes into his own during the pivotal scene whereby John unleashes a shaggy dog story which takes in the extended circumstances leading up to his wife’s death. Only then does a play which looks initially to be about grieving take a darker turn.
After such a fantastic monologue, however, things look over-blocked and awkwardly staged enough to lose the play the most subtle dramatic urgency if its final scene is to pack the required wallop to shock. This can be ironed out over Rapture’s extensive tour. Even now, though, the final, utterly unexpected moment is to die for.
The Herald, March 3rd 2008
ends
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