The National Lottie

The Good:The Last Days of the Reluctant Tyrant in the Abbey

(more…)

…go see this play.

SU and PERB!

Full review.

Only an Apple is Tom McIntrye’s new play currently gracing the stage of Peacock Theatre.

It is the haughty tale of an ailing playboy Taoiseach, (Don Wycherley-Bachelor’sWalk, Veronica Guerin, Fr. Ted )  on the brink of being overthrown by upstart Government Chief Whip McPhrunty . Desperate to choke McPhrtunty’s advances the big T sees the arrival of Queen Elizabeth I and pirate queen, Grace O’Malley as an answer to his prayers.

The brazen  fantasy creatures wreak havoc among the household without explanation or reason. The question the play poses (supposedly) is are these women sexual playthings or more sinister messengers of fate? The problem however is that is simply comes across as an orgy of sex and destruction. It tries to be smarter than it is…or perhaps fails to be as smart as it could be.

The play is visually beautiful taking full advantage of the space and quirks of The Peacock’s stage. The performances, from all but Wycherley are entertaining with particular nods to Cathy Belton (Grace) and Malcolm Adams (the butler) who added much needed quirk and humour to the  drama but over all it’s a bit flat.

Without reading the play, I can’t point the finger of failure at the writing or the direction but there seemed to be so much scope to develop the characters into more than one dimensional players.  It was arrogance or tempestuousness – either or-full stop. Had there been an effort to explore the characters it might have elicited more interest in their fates.

And the musical number at the end of Act 1…baffling.

Tickets: €15-€22

Plays until May 9th.