Perth Theatre
4 stars
It’s easy to mistake the first half hour of
Conor McPherson’s 2006 West End and Broadway hit for a hangover from the
in-yer-face era. Once McPherson’s metaphysical fascinations kick in, however,
this furious tale of five booze-sodden men holed up in an Irish cottage playing poker on Christmas Eve becomes a matter of life
and death.
Sharky has returned home to look after his blind
brother, Richard, who’s also tended to by his drinking buddy, Ivan. Sharky is
off the sauce and trying to put his life back together, but when local wide-boy
and Sharky’s nemesis Nicky turns up with a mysterious stranger called Mr Lockhart in search of a game of cards, it’s
as if all his demons have come home to roost.
McPherson has crafted a meatily fantastical yarn which rips into
macho self-loathing, the psychologically addictive allure of gambling, and how
the long term consequences of every misguided action will always get you in the
end. It’s an astonishing piece of writing that fuses a contemporary scenario
with a dangerous supernatural edge that’s utterly convincing.
For all the ferocity of Rachel O’Riordan’s
co-production between Perth and the LyricTheatre, Belfast, its subtle touches,
like the way Sharky touches the portrait of Christ every time he goes upstairs,
shine through. There is a sense too of the blind leading the blind throughout a set of mighty performances.
Louis Dempsey’s Sharky, Tony Flynn as Nicky,
Ciaran McIntyre as Richard and Sean O’Callaghan as Ivan are all terrific. Benny
Young’s savagely looming presence as the diabolical Mr Lockhart, meanwhile, is
terrifying. The end may sentimentalise Sharky’s second chance, but, until the next time, he’s a
very lucky man indeed.
The Herald, February 11th 2013
ends
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