It's a deceptive title for a play set in the world of boxing, but "softly" is how Billy Roche has approached the characters in his new play. Set in small-town Ireland in the early 1960s, it recreates the threadbare glamour of a travelling roadshow, where the boxing booth is the main attraction. While public bouts provide an outlet for the young men's frustration, the characters' sparring generally takes place outside the ring, when tensions and rivalries among the little group threaten to bubble over.
The production captures the nostalgia of the piece, with turnstiles and canvas lovingly designed by Ferdia Murphy and Paul Keoghan. There are echoes of Brian Friel's Faith Healer, but mainly it recapitulates themes of love, loss and inhibited potential that Roche explored in earlier work such as The Wexford Trilogy. Plot is not of central importance, and under Wilson Milam's direction, the pace slows almost to a standstill to allow time for anecdotes and banter.
The appearance of the manager's long-forgotten daughter allows her to quiz the other characters and discover their backstories in a highly schematic manner. In this male world of competitive prowess in the ring, the engaging Emer (Ruth Negga) becomes the emotional focus, quickly capturing the interest of the young boxer, Junior. For the "proud and lonely" coach, Peadar, she brings back his past, but also represents hope of escape for his protege, Junior. Played by Lalor Roddy with rueful charm, Peadar embodies what Roche does best: evoking a mood and period, slowly creating character studies as if for a group portrait in oils, or a sepia-tinted print.
