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Ciaran Owens as Pig and Amy Molloy as Runt Disco Pigs
Birmingham Rep Door
**** EDNA Walsh’s
Disco Pigs
was first performed in Cork in 1996. It won the Best Fringe Production
Award at the Dublin Fringe Festival in the same year and it is the play
that sparked Cillian Murphy’s career. Today, the acclaimed Cathal Cleary reintroduced
audiences to the lyrical mastery of Walsh’s explosive script. As the
Winner of the JMK Award in 2011, Cleary shows the dysfunctional world of
two people, born seconds apart from each other. It is a play that sits
on the cusp between emotional reality and childhood play. Pig and Runt have been inseparable since birth.
The first scene tells the story of how their mothers gave birth seconds
apart with a rapid puppet show using Barbie dolls. Here, we see the
reason why the characters of this explosive two hander are called Pig
and Runt. Suddenly, we are fast-forwarded to Runt’s Seventeenth
Birthday, which is the start of their new adult life. Chloe Lamford’s set is a clever stroke of art. It
parallels the fast-paced world that Pig and Runt have created for
themselves. The harsh and cutting scenes of Walsh’s script are woven
together in quick scene changes that are deployed mostly by the actors.
Changing lights and sounds are used to instantly switch between life at
home and their roaring adventures within Cork city. In their efforts to
lead a party lifestyle and enter the clubs and bars of Cork, the
audience are transported suddenly to scenes of disco dancefloors, seedy
pubs and their own living room. The actors simultaneously press buttons and
Pig and Runt live a life completely within their
own rules and because of this; they have no idea about life outside of
the world they have built for themselves. It is perhaps a coming of age
story, as the two find out about love and adulthood in the rawest
possible way. Ciaran Owens plays Pig, the earthy man who is
king of their world. Owens is strong throughout the entire piece,
particularly at the end of the play where Pig finally realises his role
in the outer parameters of the real world. His on-stage partner is Amy
Molloy as Runt. She does well to stimulate riveting emotional
responses on multiple occasions with heart-felt monologues. Together,
they are a great double act. This play relies heavily on the instinctive
reactions given from each character. Owens and Molloy both have a
wonderful trust in each other that allow them to go to the ultimate edge
that this script demands. It is emotionally charged and laced with
violence. Owens and Molloy have indeed captured the journey of two
children catapulted into the harsh world of Cork. Walsh’s script could very easily be put into the
category of ‘new writing’. Each scene is completely different from the
next, and yet we still have a great sense of character and purpose. It
is a high-paced story running at a total of Seventy minutes and because
of its swift movement, sudden switches of scene changes and poetic
language make the ultimate essence sometimes difficult to understand. We
are, however, in capable hands with Ownes and Molloy who commit fully to
the emotional brevity that is required from characters and plot. Perhaps it is Walsh’s intention that the script
is sometimes jagged, with short bursts that make up each scene. It
parallels Pig and Runt’s lifestyle of bingeing and exuberance. There are
constant elements of choral speaking and the spoken word and Walsh’s
poetic language always reminds us of the background to which the play is
set. Disco Pigs has a ‘Lord of the Flies’ connotation, where Pig and
Runt have made their own world together and nobody can stop them. The
audience see the dire consequences of what it means to live in a world
where rules do not apply. Walsh has surprises in every angle of this play.
He has the smooth ability to shock audiences with explosive scenes and
vivid images. The actors use mannequins as their puppets to account for
other characters in the story and although they are inanimate, they
still manage to create the emotional pull thanks to the commitment of
each actor, especially during the final scenes. Walsh has the ability to
create a whirlwind of emotion in such a short amount of time. Through
his characters and plot, the audience see a reflection of a striking
world, with beautiful writing and terrific actors. To 01-10-16. Elizabeth Halpin 29-09-16
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sounds that bring us right where we need to be at any given point.
Lamford brings a technical brilliance, as actors and set become one with
each other.