A struggle with memories Irish Blood, English heart at Union Theatre is a perfect picture of grief.
It's a hard task to sculpt a vivid image of a character the audience never meets. In Irish Blood, English Heart, a Morissey song and a play written for the distinctive space that is Union Theatre, it's deceased cab driver Nick we're trying to picture. His two sons come to his garage to meet his young prodigy Anthony but each of them have very different memories of the cabbie.
Union Theatre is tucked into the shadows of a railway arch in Southwark and, steeped in photos, mementos, and old car parts, it makes a great garage. Our curiosity is fuelled by Francesca Rodrigues' stand out set design which has an enormous black and white map of London as its focal point. With two perpendicular red lines drawn across it, it doubles as an imposing but revered English flag. It provides a lasting memory of Nick, an Irishman who's had to graft to earn his Londoner status.
Despite his overdeveloped hippocampus, Nick chose his own history and provided different versions to each person in his life. Disappointingly, the play takes a while before it starts to give us the really interesting nuggets of Nick's past. A suspicious death, a secret affair and a mysterious scar are all revealed in a rush at the end after a long look at the flawed characters that make up Nick's remaining family.
We are introduced to unambitious Con, husband to fiery Peggy and brother of successful comedian-turned-novelist Ray. Struggling with his father's death, Con clings to the good memories and wants to know the side of his father that was reserved for his prodigy Anthony. Ray has nothing but bad memories of his dad and struggles to get his brother to remember their childhood. Peggy, being more driven than her husband has plans that involve money and she feels Ray, having featured Peg and Con in his book, owes them.
Sound complicated? Well it is. And the glaringly uneven script makes it difficult to grasp exactly what we're supposed to feel for these people. What seems like an attempt to create complex, multifaceted characters actually muddles their motivations instead. In a play about skewed memories, writer Darren Murphy has his audience doubt each character but strips away much of the needed consistency.
The cast though are excellent. Directed by Caitriona McLaughlin, Carolyn Tomkinson is superb as the unruly, caring Peggy. Perhaps not the best listener, in Tomkinson's hands, Peggy becomes a watchful wife who despite her frustrations with her husband, knows his flaws and strengths better than anyone.
In a superb showdown, Ian Groombridge as Con and Howard Teale as Ray switch roles multiple times, playing each other and their Irish father with an absorbing intensity. Sadly this only comes around in the second half, which brings us back to that uneven script. At two hours twenty minutes the play is longer than it needs to be. The first half drags and the second half, if a little confusing, is damn near brilliant.
Irish Blood, English Heart runs at Union Theatre until 5th March
Click here for more Fringe Theatre in London
Click here for Theatre in London
Click here for Things to do in London
Add an event
Frieze Art Fair to launch new section for young galleries in 2012
Frieze have today announced details for the 2012 edition, their tenth art fair in London. Taking place...