Lovers

The Irish Theatre Players (ITP), are in a state of renewal. They have recently replaced their entire committee and are looking forward to a bright future after some turmoil.

Their first show under the new guard is Lovers, a Brian Friel pairing of two complementary plays, set in 1967, Winners and Losers. In this production, the plays are directed by two different directors, with overall artistic direction by Mary Murphy.

ITP switched the traditional order of the plays, playing Losers first. Nicely directed by Bobby Greaney, Losers is a balanced, nicely presented play. Rory Buckley and Hannah Toner do a fine job in the central roles, despite being much younger than the characters as Friel envisaged them. Katie Toner would half the age of Hannah's "forties" and with her Alice band and loose hair, looks even younger, but manages to convey her world weariness and loss of verve. Rory Buckley is very likeable as narrator/character Alan and his direct address to the audience is relaxed and believable.

The story of lovers stymied by circumstance is well told and nicely staged and the supporting roles are played with strength by Clare Wilson (Mrs Wilson) and Siobhan Wright (Cissy).

It would be remiss not to mention interval, as ITP provide a lovely welcoming atmosphere as well as a generous, delicious supper. They are well aware of the importance of the "community" element of community theatre and their shows are a delight to attend.

Winners is directed by Liam McDonald. This is a challenging and complex play for a new director and while he seemed to know the characters well, the pace was severely lacking. This show can be performed at festival length, but ran at twice that, meaning that it didn't quite capture the urgency and joy of Friel's writing. Friel's dispassionate narrators were transformed into cloaked revelations of doom, which was an interesting interpretation, but the choice and the staging had the unwanted effect of further slowing the plot. This is a new director with clever ideas, who with experience will create good quality theatre.

Sofie Reidy-Croft made a lovely, likeable Mag, with a winning smile and pleasant performance style. David Buckley was a charming Joe, though probably closer to 27 that seventeen-and-a-half, he had boyish charisma and a lovely delivery.

Some anachronisms were an unwelcome distraction (for example post-it-notes and fluorescent notebooks were not available in the 1960s), which was a shame as effort had been made to be exact in other areas such as glass bottles and paper lunch wrappings.

Brian Friel's Lovers is an excellent script and should be seen as he is one of the best modern Irish playwrights. The audience loved this warm-hearted, thought-provoking production. I congratulate Irish Theatre Players on their renewed enthusiasm and wish them all the best for the future.

Kimberley Shaw