Black Ice

BLACK Ice is Team Educational Theatre Company's latest piece and the second play offered by the Peacock in their season of youth theatre.

Centring on the issues surrounding homelessness, it kicked off with a drama workshop led by company manager, Caoimhin Corrigan, where the cast introduced themselves and played short scenes from their characters' childhoods.

The young audience, reluctantly at first but then increasingly vociferously, added in their perspectives on the family situations that were played out.

The play itself begins when the five strong cast, older now and each having left home for their own reasons, meet in a squat and spend an uneasy night together.

The play's undeniable theatrical and emotional strength lies in the versatile young cast and Thomas McLaughlin's vibrant script.

Shane Lynch as Stephen has just taken to the streets and stumbles across Jock (Stephen Dunne) and Helen (Eveanna O'Meara), Woof (Enda Grace) and Mary (Aoife O'Beirne). Bouncing between two doors, with little more than a television and an old sofa for props, the characters slip in and out of each other's lives with immensely competent energy.

The dialogue is fast paced, poignant and often hilarious, with neither McLaughlin, nor Susie Kennedy in directing, allowing the characters to slip into stereotypes.

Indeed, the issue of homelessness is tackled throughout in a manner that is neither cliched nor patronising but rather attempts to explore reasons and display the facts, baldly but without melodrama.

Team has come up with a truly educational piece as well as a very enjoyable drama.