Mammy's House by Amy Clarke, Upstairs at the Gatehouse, Highgate Village, London N6 | until 13 September 2026 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell

Photo credit: Amy Clarke

Mammy's House

by Amy Clarke

Upstairs at the Gatehouse, Highgate Village, London N6 | until 13 September 2026

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell

“Moving and finely acted.”

The reservation I have about this moving story about life in a house in Camden in 1985 where Barry, otherwise Mammy, and his friend Mags give shelter to other Irish gays fleeing llife in Ulster is quite simply that I found the cast difficult to follow at times – partly, it has to be said, because they had not quite got to grips with the Gatehouse acoustics, which are good, and partly because my ear wasn't attuned to their accents. The first night audience, however, were fully with the story of Nial, otherwise Nellie, played by Connor O'Dwyer, who is living with Mammy and Mags, ends up with AIDS – not all the others given shelter were necessarily good to meet - and will not see his dream of going to America and meeting a cowboy come true. The play apparently fills a gap in the history of Irish members of the LGBT community being queer and Irish in a city – London – not necessarily welcoming to Irish residents and has been developed with some very impressive support. The cast is impressive - Derek Murphy as Mammy and Conor O'Dwyer as Niall are very good indeed – and the play does what it set out to do, shine a light on untold stories of the Irish LGBTQ community during the AIDS crisis. But the light shed for me was affected by the problem of what they were saying. But that said it is finely performed and ultimately very moving.

Cast

Derek Murphy – Mammy/Barry

Stephen Cheriton - Orla Nothin'/Justin/Ginny Tonic

Conor O'Dwyer – Niall/Nellie

Jemima Curran – Mags

Clara Pouncett – Sally

Justin Ensor – Shay

Creatives

Director – Brian Brady.

Costume Designer – Jacky Levy.