Druid theatre company’s triple bill by Seán O’Casey comes with music hall flourishes and a light touch. Rarely performed, these one-act comedies show a very different side to the O’Casey whose major dramas from the 1920s tackled the political conflicts and tragedies of his times.
With the endlessly inventive cast going all out for the ridiculous, Garry Hynes’ production delivers farce with hints of satire. While an anti-authoritarian theme runs through all three plays, Bedtime Story from 1951 has the most pointed comments to make, in this case about religious hypocrisy and sexual double standards. Set in a claustrophobic boarding house, it concerns a pious young man, John Jo (Aaron Monaghan), who wants to cover up the fact that he has invited a woman, Angela (Sarah Morris), back to his room overnight. As he haplessly tries to smuggle her out of the house and pretend it never happened, Angela turns the tables on him, with the audience cheering her on.
Petty officialdom is the obstacle to two men’s carousing in A Pound on Demand (1939) in which Jerry (Rory Nolan), moderately less drunk than his pal, Sammy (Aaron Monaghan), attempts to help him withdraw money from his post office account, although he can barely sign his name. With her modicum of power, the postmistress (Venetia Bowe) relishes obstructing them, supported by her admirer, the village policeman (Liam Heslin). As they lurch dangerously or are flung out through the door, Nolan and Monaghan’s brilliant comic timing compensates for a flimsy script.
Clowning and slapstick are central to the stage business in The End of the Beginning (1937). In a contest between a farmer husband, Darry (Rory Nolan) and wife Lizzie (Sarah Morris), absurd male antics ensue, with the self-important Darry joined by the delightfully gormless Barry (Marty Rea) to attempt a day’s housework. All gangling limbs, Barry adds to the ensuing mayhem: a mess of broken crockery, spilled oil and a heifer on the loose. With designer Francis O’Connor’s lovingly detailed period sets and costumes, piano interludes in true vaudeville style from composer Conor Linehan, this production wraps O’Casey’s lesser works in a seasonal bow.
On tour until 18 December.
