Roddy Doyle's hour-long first play for children is a raucous, colloquial affair, in which three adult actors manipulating life-sized puppets play a family of monkeys living in Dublin zoo. The likable central gag is that behind humans' backs, the monkeys talk and act just like humans — in fact, they are the archetypical Doyle working-class Dublin family, eating "snack boxes" (take-away chicken and chips), slagging each other off, and acting rebelliously towards authority, particularly zookeepers and the Garda Siochana.
On what is framed as a typical night, they sneak out of the zoo after hours, go to the movies, and get into loads of scrapes. It all proceeds with fairly aimless bumptiousness, much enjoyed in a "he's behind you!" kind of way by the audience of six-year-olds. Doyle lays on a political message in the final 15 minutes, when the zookeeper reveals that the younger monkeys are being sent back to Africa.
This can be appreciated by grownups as a reference to controversies around i mmigration in Ireland. The children took it in as yet another instance of the monkeys being smarter than humans, by explaining to the zookeeper that they are Dubliners, and that they like living in the zoo, and thus harmony is restored.
The production values here are high, though the overall vibe is self-consciously slapdash - Chisato Yoshimi's set is a series of illustrated cutouts of trees, gates and buildings that look as if they were coloured on by children. The actors, particularly Richie McEntee as the narrator Bertie, are energetic and likable, and work with performer Niamh Lawlor's puppets skilfully. It seems likely, however, that its somewhat self-conscious adorableness might put off the upper end of its target audience of six- to 11-year-olds, and the language is a bit salty - do kids really need the message that it's hilarious to say "arse"?
· Until June 18. Box office: 00 353 1 670 7788.
