THE KERRY MATCHMAKER. To 29 May.
Perth/Tour
THE KERRY MATCHMAKER
by John B. Keane adapted by Phyllis Ryan
Perth Theatre To 1 May 2004 then tour
Tue-Sat 7.30pm Mat Sat 2.30pm
Audio-described 29 April, 1 May 2.30pm
BSL Signed 1 May 2.30pm
Runs 2hr 15min One interval
TICKETS: 01738 621031
www.perththeatre.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 17 April
Lonely lives and sympathetic laughter in a fine and gentle entertainment.Hello, Dick Mick Dick O' Connor, in his home in a corner of rural 1950s Ireland. What a world away those fifties were, last days before new ways and paths of communication blew down age-old lifestyles. So, here Dick sits, in retirement taking up the role of local matchmaker for the mature and advanced in years. It's a comfortable seat most of the time and an enjoyable journey through his matchmaking stratagems.
City Theatre Dublin tour Phyllis Ryan's adaptation of John B Keane's story through Scotland with a notable local cast, Jimmy Chisholm ably taking on the role of Dick, plus any male clients, while the splendid Una McClean impersonates the women seeking his help and, outside it all, cousin Marj in the brave, bold land of Canada.
Meanwhile, back home in Ireland Keane artfully constructs a web of humorous cases into something far more melancholy. As sexual appetites (in no way diminished by advancing years) are mismatched, voracious with abstemious, and letter-writers find polite expressions for their secret desires, there emerges an overriding sense of loneliness. It becomes most transparent when, late on, Dick's wife dies and he finds himself closer to the situation of those he's helped out with cheerful detachment.
Michael McCafferty's set expresses the action economically three detached wall panels back the stage areas, Chisholm's Dick seated centrally by his correspondence-covered table, on either side the areas where, respectively, McLean's numerous female applicants and the male seekers after satisfied lust and human companionship occupy their spaces.
In each area is a spotlit clothes stand, hats and coats hanging forlornly like the lonely lives of people with nowhere to go, perpetually offsetting the voices expressing human desires and hope. Michael Scott's production allows the palimpsests of mood to reveal themselves. He's greatly supported by McLean's vivid cameos, angrily or apologetically coming back for more when the original consignment's failed to deliver the goods.
Chisholm has fun too, and lets us have lots more, though he occasionally betrays an over-eagerness to shove' points at an audience. The stand-up comic, or revue performer, needs to stay consistently within the character. But it's truly human theatre all round.
Cast:
Una McLean, Jimmy Chisholm
Director/Lighting: Michael Scott
Designer: Michael McCaffery
2004-04-21 11:56:47