A sold out opening night is as good a start as you can hope for and that’s exactly what the Decadent Theatre Company got last night at the Lyric Theatre on their first of seven shows (there’s a matinee on Saturday) of Martin McDonagh’s A Skull in Connemara.
A Skull in Connemara is a four man play that belies the trials and tribulations of Mick Dowd, played brilliantly by Garrett Keogh. Mick is a local man tasked for a week each year with digging up graves and disposing of what remains to make way for new burials. The problem comes when one of the graves he has to dig up is his wife. An old woman, her troublesome grand-son and his brother the Guard make up the rest of the cast and are as intermingled as one would expect in small town rural Ireland.
McDonagh is known for complex plot lines, great characters and entertaining dialogue as anyone that has seen In Bruges and more recently Seven Psychopaths would know. Here he doesn’t disappoint, although on a much smaller scale the story is as intricate and exciting as one would want, the characters are lively and interesting and the dialogue as sharp and quick as a razors edge. There’s a lot of superfluous talk, about the weather and such and yet it’s not at all wasted, as this is how people talk in real life. I commented to a friend at half time about the possibility of them having to slow down the speech were it performed outside of Ireland, perhaps as much for the accents as the intrinsically Irish words that are used. I certainly had no problem understanding the play, neither did the rest of the full house as the crowd laughed along almost constantly, pausing only at a few more salacious points as if wondering if it were morally right to laugh at such black humour.
The set design would leave Tim Burton envious; Owen MacCarthaigh has a lot to be proud of – a two piece set up that starts off with a weathered old house, an omnipresent cross is on the centre of the wall, a reminder that life in these small communities, much like this play revolves heavily around the church. The set change to the graveyard arrives with a bang – twisted trees and a full size grave that they proceed to dig right the way down prove an impressive backdrop for the middle act. Sound design is also of note as the wind howls in the outdoor scenes, doors creek and inbetween acts there’s oddly jaunty music that seems to fit perfectly with the Gothic nature of the play.
This play is funny and reflective, it has twists and turns and yet always remains grounded in what people are doing. Small town relationships and problems that really could be happening anywhere in the world – they just happen to be in Connemara in a thick Irish accent – and I’m sure that my favourite line in the whole play is funny regardless of what accent it’s in “he’s as thick as five thick fellas”.
A Skull in Connemara is on until Sun 16th March at the Lyric Theatre. Tickets start at £18 and can be bought from here.
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