THE GIGLI CONCERT. To 23 April.
London
THE GIGLI CONCERT
by Tom Murphy
Finborough Theatre To 23 April 2005
Tue-Sat 7.30pm Sun 3.30pm
Runs 2hr 45min One interval
TICKETS: 0870 4000 838
www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 10 April
The name's pronounced jheeli', not giggly': there's little to laugh at here, and the subject matter is convoluted, but Murphy's a dramatic force it's hard to deny.No-one could accuse Tom Murphy of being simplistic. His plays are more about process, their characters' search for satisfaction, than identifying where their goals might lie. Neither the 2 men whose consultations form most of The Gigli Concert, nor Mona, the self-proclaimed coarse woman who visits JPW King suddenly and unannounced because she loves him, have much firm biography. Only a few shards of fact prop up each one's presence. It makes for demanding viewing, but Murphy repays the attention in strength of writing and swirl of ideas. Especially with performances like those in Gavin McAlinden's sure-footed production
King's an Englishman sent to Ireland as lone representative for Dynamatology, a kind of self-styled psychiatry built upon a positive approach to life little evident in his own twilight existence of bread-and-jam plus vodka. Then his window-sign finally attracts a client, an anonymous, wealthy builder who's entranced by an LP of Italian tenor Beniamino Gigli.
Between occasional attempts to contact his beloved, elusive Helen and Mona's visits, King proceeds to tutor his client in the impossible mission, till he becomes caught up in the tenor's vocal magic.
Charm Offensive theatre company certainly know how to field a first-rate team, following their Frank McGuinness production at the Finborough late last year. Catherine Cusack brings a brisk determination and no-nonsense directness to Mona, offsetting the men's emotional turns and indeterminacy. Paul McGann's King is edgy and unfulfilled in his mid-40s. When alone he alternates between feverish uncertainty and sudden outbursts of action.
Such a person naturally quails before Niall Buggy's visionary builder, who no longer wants to build. Nor anyone to know his name. Even the great tenor turns out only one of his annual obsessions in cycles of depression. The music seeps into the play. At first when his visitor transports a gramophone into his dark and cramped office King won't hear of it, by the end he's miming along.
But desperately, not with the shining radiance Buggy's already shown merely listening to a track. It's a superb performance, matching McGann's suddenness with switches to full-voiced fury, gleaming humour or intense inquiry.
JPW King: Paul McGann
Irish Man: Niall Buggy
Mona: Catherine Cusack
Director: Gavin McAlinden
Designer: Vicki Fifield
Lighting: Paul Colwell
Sound: Matt Downing
Costume: Anna Caligaro
2005-04-12 12:13:13