Private Peaceful - theatre review

“Tonight, more than any other night, I want to feel alive.”

These are the thoughts that are going through our character Tommo’s mind as he cradles his watch to his ear, listening to the comforting sound of the ticking.

The watch is a gift from his beloved brother and Tommo keeps checking to see if the watch is still working.

It is.

Time is still ticking along.

And time is clearly very much the essence for Tommo and a recurring theme in this play.

In fact, Tommo begins to reflect on times gone by – especially memories of childhood fun with his brother Charlie and local friend Molly.

We begin to read between the lines and we realise that Tommo had a crush on Molly. We smile when Tommo recalls the first time they all went skinny dipping and the first time he glimpsed a female’s naked body. And then we realise, sooner than Tommo did, that Molly and Charlie were in love with each other all along and poor ol’ Tommo was the go-between – acting as courier of love letters between the two.

Tommo is played by Odhran McNulty and for the entire 80 minutes of the play, Odhran has no props and no fellow actors – yet he plays 22 characters, a wide range of accents and numerous scenes. His skill and talent is hugely admirable. His many accents brought a smile to my face and were a joy to watch. With no props (except for a few small stools), his energy was unstoppable as he used every inch of the stage and every permutation of movement to transform himself through a myriad of scenes. It really was an impressive feat.

I began to notice that the same familiar trademark of Pintsized Productions was apparent with this piece too – Nuala Donnelly’s precise direction – her ability to use one actor, no props and yet vividly depict a number of scenes and characters is remarkable. And a vivid depiction it most certainly was. We quickly forgot that there was only one man on a stage. We were immersed in the world of Tommo. Does Molly realise that he’s actually in love with her? Will Molly and Tommo be reunited?

We watch as Charlie and Tommo get pushed into signing up for the war. We watch the triumphant leader putting pressure on young men to act for their country. We watch the old lady taunting Tommo and asking him if he’s too much of a ‘coward’. We watch these scenes unfold and forget that there’s only one man playing all of them – McNulty's ability to portray many characters allows us to immerse ourselves in the story.

We learn that Charlie and Molly name their baby after Tommo and it warms our hearts. We hear how Molly longs for baby Tommo to meet his dad and uncle after the war and we hope they will all be reunited. And we are catapulted into Tommo’s world when he’s lying in the middle of the trenches, dodging death. We are transported into that scene, seeing him crouching down next to his injured brother, refusing to leave him. We’re behind him 100% when he disobeys orders – orders that tell him to leave his brother behind. And we’re there with him facing the consequences and feeling the injustice of his young years.

“Tonight, I want very much to believe that there’s a heaven, that death is not a full stop, and that we will all see one another again.”

And then the lights go up, and we have tears in our eyes, and we’re transported back to the present. This is just one man on a stage. But for 80 minutes, we were in Tommo’s world, immersed in his life, immersed in the people that surrounded him, immersed in his realisation that time is so very precious and tonight, more than any other night, we should remember to feel alive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Private Peaceful was performed by Odhran McNulty and directed by Nuala Donnelly. 

Written by Michael Morpurgo and adapted by Simon Reade. 

Pintsized Productions website: Pintsized

'Wasted' by PintSized Productions

I am sitting in the American bar right beside the stage. An audience sits drinking their Sunday afternoon pints about to watch ‘Wasted’. Two actors are in front of me. Two chairs. Two spotlights. The music begins. Immediately we are thrown into a nightclub scene. The two actors are drinking, taking selfies, dancing. As the title suggests, they are wasted.

It is fast, vibrant, energetic. We move through scenes with great speed – the bar, the taxi, the club. We even move from character to character quickly – one minute we are watching two female best friends, next the actors switch to two male friends. Thrown into the mix, the characters change to a mother, a bouncer, a Policeman. All the actors have are two chairs and two spotlights. But with fascinating direction and choreography, one hour of two actors and two chairs becomes so much more.

We have Emma and Kate, best mates on a night out. They bump into Oli and Charlie, and the four progress from a few drinks in the bar, to drinking games, to a taxi, to a club. There’s a scene where Emma falls and is picked up by Oli. Oli examines her bloody foot, only to find that the blood is actually spilled Strawberry Daiquiri. Shannon Wilkinson (Emma) portrays a highly realistic drunken girl – even her facial gestures are down to a tee. Then she manages to switch to the laddish Charlie, which she pulls off effortlessly by the way she cranes her neck and she way she swaggers.

Thomas Martin on the other hand, who originally plays Oli, immediately switches to best friend Kate, and we need no explanation. He can act girlish, feminine and like a sympathetic girlie best friend. Then straight away he can switch straight back into his male character who is being grilled by his mother on what he got up to the night before.

How Nuala Donnelly pulled together this feat of choreography and direction is beyond me.  It is fast, tight, and non-stop. This play does not stand still. And yet for some reason, you never lose grip of who is playing who and what scene we are on. The actors pull it off perfectly.

The scenes jump back and forward as we start to learn the events of that wasted night. Emma lost her phone, her wallet, her keys and her friend Kate. Oli is there is pick up the pieces. To literally carry her home over his shoulder.

But then the following morning comes, and along with it, the hangover. Emma’s dread as she awakens and feels rough. But worse than that, did something happen last night? Was there sex? Does she even remember anything?

And this is where the main tension of the story lies. Did Emma and Oli have sex? Emma was too drunk to remember. Did she even consent to it? eg. Was it rape?

Therein lies a storyline which in some ways should feel like a talk to young people, and yet it doesn’t come across like that. Interwoven within the dramatic storyline are lessons to be learned. What would happen if Emma reported Oli? What would the Police say? How would the interviews take place? What are the consequences for this alcohol fuelled evening?

This play has everything – powerful, emotional scenes – when Emma is crying to her friend and can’t remember anything. Comedy and light-heartedness – the early evening, the selfies, the hanging off the bar ordering drinks. Information and education – all young people should watch this play and come away with lessons learned. And physical theatre – how can only two chairs tell so many scenes? It’s because of the way the two actors bounce off each other, move, twist, exchange roles and genders. It is clever, it has perfect timing and it is entertaining.

What was also interesting about the writing of this play (written by Kat Woods) was that my sympathies for the two main characters switched back and forth. I never really knew what was going to happen or what the outcome would be for Oli.

The final scene left me with tears in my eyes. A hugely powerful hard-hitting yet entertaining play. This is one I will not forget.   

~ 'Wasted' by Pintsized Productions was performed in the American Bar, Belfast on Sunday 24 February 2019.