Surrealism seems to be in the Irish theatrical air this month. There was Jim Culliton's surrealistic adaptation of half a dozen of Maeve Binchy's stories (still to be seen at Andrew's Lane) and now there is Conal Creedon's surreal search for whatever may be the substance of fatherhood in his new comedy directed by Ben Hennessy for Red Kettle.
Apparently, Mossie Buckley has impregnated his girlfriend Veronica but, never having known his own father - just as his mother Sis never knew her own father - Mossie goes to his bachelor bed wondering what it will take to be a father to Veronica's baby.
We are back in Mossie's childhood when he and his Ma have moved into her brother Jojo's house, only to be joined there by Grandda after a 37year absence and, so, unrecognised by either Sis or Jojo whose father he purports to be. Sis may be about to start courting Christopher, which will upset Jojo who has been accustomed to her doing his housework and the other threat on Mossie's very young horizon is Brother Tierney, a fearsome caricature of a Christian Brother who takes grievous exception to Mossie's statement to the class that Santa Claus was baby Jesus's uncle.
The snag in the evening is that the author has devised far too complex a dramatic construction to carry what is basically a light-weight comedy written (presumably purposefully) as a series of banalities and cliches with sentimentality oozing from its pauses. Perhaps it's supposed also to be satirical in its vacuous homespun philosophy, but this is not always a certainty and Mossie's search for the essence of fatherhood seems to culminate in Grandda's head-butting of the bullying Brother Tierney and the older Mossie getting back on his mobile 'phone to Veronica after Grandda's death.
The playing was a mite tentative, with uncertainties in riding the plentiful laughter from a full house. No doubt that will settle as the run continues. Frank Mackey captures the childhood Mossie with economy and style, Rita Evelyn Smyth is his unhappy mother, Sis, and Pascal Scott his thick yet gentle Uncle Jojo. Donncha Crowley is the evil Brother Tierney who keeps leaping out from behind the head of his bed and Terry Byrne is his protective Grandda. The surprisingly austere yet serviceable setting is by Cliff Dolliver and Jim Daly's lighting is excellent.
Runs at the Forum until March 24th: booking at 051-871111. Then touring to Kilkenny, Portlaoise, Longford, Cork
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