THE LOST WARRIOR. To 1 January.

Lancaster

THE LOST WARRIOR
by Neil Duffield

Duke's Theatre To 12 January 2005
Tue-Sat also Mon 20 Dec 10.30am 2pm 7pm various dates. No performance 25-27 Dec
Audio-described 21 Dec 7pm
BSL Signed 20 Dec 2pm
Runs 2hr One interval

TICKETS: 01524 598500
tickets@dukes-lancaster.org
Review: Timothy Ramsden 4 December

Colourful fantasy trip where love and virtue triumph.The Dukes doubles as theatre and cinema, so it's a good idea to have publicity and programme for Neil Duffield's latest Christmas play (which brings him closer home as a story-teller, from previous years in Russian and China to Ireland and Celtic mythology) in the style of a fantasy-film poster.

With the audiences their Christmas shows have built, Duffield and regular director Eileen Murphy clearly have the confidence to emphasise the poetic power of story and colourful settings. The humour here is character-based, and the apparently indispensable chase through the audience has been dispensed with.

Back in the Celtic mists of time, young warrior Oisin guards Lough Leane. A reasonable chap, and a young one, he sees nothing wrong with riding off for an awayday with the beautiful blonde Niamh to the land of Tir Na N'og. But this is the place of eternal youth where day never ends, and Oisin is unaware that centuries are passing, nor that the blonde beauty is the wicked Morrigan in disguise.

Fortunately there's the virtuous loving Aideen, empowered by love to face the challenge of recovering the lost warrior. First she has to learn about his fate then how to reach the magic land, both accomplished through a Welsh stone-sprite. Stone and water both play their part in the story, as do enriching contemporary scenes, where a modern Aideen searches for her origins.

There's a touch of the Oirish to the accents at times, and prosaic moments in both the writing and Murphy's production. Yet Keith Morris's music (live harp-playing included) and Dee Sidwell's set, with its suggestions of water and land rolling into the distances, its trees lighting up when we visit Tir Na N'og, provide a magical setting mostly matched by the story-telling. Ruth Dawes brings lightness and resolve to the stone-sprite Bron while Pam Jolley's Aideen, in times present and past, has a directness that suitably contrasts Jacquelyn Hines' fanciful double-act.

All's rounded-out by a second chance' revisit to the play's opening, the consequences of a single moment's decision now clear to us and a wiser course of action fortunately taken.

Fergal: Patrick Bridgman
Angus: Kieran Cunningham
Bron: Ruth Dawes
Oisin Christopher Dickins
The Morrigan/Niamh: Jacquelyn Hynes
Aideen: Pam Jolley

Director: Eileen Murphy
Designer: Dee Sidwell
Lighting: Brent Lees
Sound: Julie Washington
Music: Keith Morris
Choreographer: Ruth Jones

2004-12-05 11:07:38