Lime Tree Bower till 21 June, later to Edinburgh
Coventry Belgrade (later to Edinburgh)
Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2003
THE LIME TREE BOWER: Conor McPherson
Belgrade: Tkts: 024 7655 3055
Runs: 1h 30m, no interval till 21 June
Review: Rod Dungate, 17 June 2003
Sensitive production and lovely acting in a much flawed piece
THE LIME TREE BOWER is at times interesting and engaging, at other times I found my mind wandering onto other matters. This is not the fault of director Patrick Connellan this is a sparse and sensitive production. Nor is it the fault of the actors. The trouble is with the form of the piece itself a series of interweaving monologues that add together and release a story.
This hybrid form is not original in modern times many of us remember KENNEDY'S CHILDREN. It's a hybrid of story-telling and dramatic structure: and it seems to me to lose the best of both worlds. The story-tellers lose the flexibility they need the all important two way exchange between them and audience, the opportunity to improvise. The drama loses the essential tension that comes from dramatic conflict (in all its variety). The writer says he feels there is enough conflict within one person to write about (hence his use of monologues): this may be, but it's not really enough, in this instance, to make great drama from: at times I began to sink under the weight of too much personal detail.
Having said this, the story does have an engaging quality. You wonder how it will end. A kind of thriller, it has a glorious sense of Irish elaboration in its telling, ranging from the disgusting (Ray's talk of projectile vomiting) to the delightfully funny (adolescent Joe's assumed hours studying when he's spending much of the time wanking.)
There's one extremely odd moment in the production. For just a fleeting moment two of the characters interact along the lines of 'I didn't know that', 'I've never said it before'. The world the play has created and continues within is shattered: what world are we in now? Neither fish nor fowl.
It's a strong trio of actors. In particular Nick Danan's Frank is beautifully detailed. Danan manages at times to really grab us by the heart as well as the head particularly when talking of his father. At other times his uncomfortable shifting in his chair reveals everything.
Joe: Peter Quinn
Ray: Dermot Kerrigan
Frank: Nick Danan
Director/ Designer: Patrick Connellan
Lighting: James Farncombe
Co-Producer: Richard Jordan
2003-06-18 10:01:17