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Stars explained: * A production of no real merit
with failings in all areas. ** A production showing evidence of not
enough time or effort, or even talent, and which never breathes any real
life into the piece – or a show lumbered with a terrible script. *** A
good enjoyable show which might have some small flaws but has largely
achieved what it set out to do.**** An excellent show which shows a
great deal of work and stage craft with no noticeable or major
flaws.***** A four star show which has found that extra bit of magic
which lifts theatre to another plane. |
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Stan Hubbard as Jack and Alex Howell as Brendan The Weir
Circle Players
Aldridge Youth Theatre
**** THERE is not a lot for lonely old blokes
to do in the backwaters of rural Ireland except go to the pub, talk and
tell tall tales, particularly when the German tourists are not around. Not that the Germans are German of course, they
could be from Norway, or Denmark, German being generic, and being
Ireland the tales have a hint of the supernatural about them . . .
ghosts. Conor McPherson’s modern classic from 1997 is set
in The Weir, the bar run by Brendan, unmarried and hardly best friends
with his sisters. Brendon’s bar, a good looking set incidentally,
is hardly smart. The ladies is out of order, the Guinness pump is ‘fecked’
and a request for white wine needs a search of last year’s Christmas
presents in Brendan’s living quarters to find a bottle. But it is how his regulars like it; regulars such
as Jack, the local garage owner and Jim, odd-job man and Jack’s sometime
assistant, whose mother has been dying for years. Then there is Finbar; Finbar, the self-made
success
He’s the only one married but his wife is
mentioned so little that she is merely another ghost. But tonight there is a hint of excitement, a
newcomer, Valerie, a woman from Dublin seeking peace and quiet who has
rented an old house from Finbar who has brought her into The Weir to
meet the locals.
The eponymous bar, incidentally, is named after
the nearby hydroelectric plant, mentioned only briefly, merely to show
all the men’s fathers worked on the construction, establishing they are
born, bred and steeped in the village. Alex Howell is a quiet Brendan who can never make
his mind up whether he will have one for himself – but he usually does.
He doesn’t get on with his sisters and has catholic tastes when it comes
to relationships – seeing Finbar, a married man, driving Valerie, a
married woman, around to see the sights as something wrong. But as a
good barman he just holds his peace and serves the drinks. Jack, played by Stan Hubbard, is the gruff, salt
of the earth type who drinks Guinness – what else! – so is less than
impressed that the tap is broken and he is reduced to bottles, Harp and
the odd small one of Jameson’s. You feel he does not really like Finbar,
a man who deserted the village for a better life then returned trying to
laud it over everyone. Not that he is far wrong. Finbar, played by John
Holmes, does appear to see himself as a cut above the rest, he wears a
suit, collar and tie for a start, and seems to enjoy blowing his own
trumpet while, even in jest, seems to regard the rest of the village,
Brendan, Jack and Jim included, as country bumpkins. Jim, played by David
Daly, is the quietest of the three, a man whose only interest seems to
be The Racing Post
and studying form, although he does seem to have some success on the
ponies and has even come up with an 11/4 winner for himself and Jack
that day. McPherson said of his award-winning play that “it
is just people talking”, but talk can be a powerful thing in skilled
hands. The stories start with Jack persuaded to tell a
tale of the strange goings on surrounding a fairy road which runs
through the house Valerie has rented, then Finbar comes up with ghosts
on stairs and finally Jim weighs in with a grave digger’s tale about a
paedophile corpse. That was the final straw so they decide no more
tales, except Valerie has her own tale to tell. Up to this point Liz Daly’s Valerie has been a
guest, a pleasant enough onlooker, but once she starts her story she
grips the emotions. The previ In a few short moments she had the audience
clutched tight in her hand. An emotional, convincing performance. As the hour grew late and Jim and Finbar headed
home, the remaining trio huddled around the fire for warmth and Jack
told the final tale, nothing supernatural here, just an outpouring of
love lost and what might have beens, as sad a story in its own way as
Valerie’s tale of loss. There may be no ghosts but Jack is haunted just
the same.
This is a play revolving around the ancient art
of storytelling. Apart from regular pints pulled and small ones poured
nothing much happens, yet the words hold you for the full hour and a
half or so without interval, which is no mean feat. Director Ellie Ball has kept a nice pace, slow,
steady but insistent. It is never slow enough to drag, never fast enough
to feel rushed, just right for a quiet night in a west coast Irish pub. The cast of four play their parts beautifully
with some nice touches; Jack opening the fire to smoke, Bredan pouring
undrunk brandy back in the bottle, Finbar, with an ostentatious
flourish, pulling out a 50 euro note – which is probably worth about £60
by now. And then there are the accents which are
essential to the play. The Irish accents were passable but more
important they were consistent. There is nothing worse for an audience
than an accent which changes location or even continent with each
speech. No danger of that here; whichever part of Ireland an accent was
from it stayed there so you could tune in to each character from the
start. And tune in you did. By the end you felt, even in
a small way, that you knew them well which is a tribute to some fine
acting. Not a lot happens but it still makes for a most entertaining
evening. To 22-10-16 Roger Clarke 20-10-16 |
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story
who “spotted the gaps” and left for the bright lights to make his
fortune, returning to take over the local hotel as the local
businessman.
ous
tales, well told, with, if not exactly terror, at least a hint of fear,
had been engaging but Valerie’s story was no tall tale, it was a tragic
recounting of the events that had made her leave Dublin, a true,
terrible tale albeit with a supernatural end – another ghost.