Reviews

Irish Times critics review a performance of A Life In The Theatre at Andrews Lane Studio, Dublin; a gig by the Warlocks at Whelans and piano trio Leonard/Lynch and Butt at Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin

A Life In The Theatre at Andrews Lane Studio, Dublin

You may have heard the joke wherein a New York hobo accosts an English visitor for a handout, to be dismissed with a lofty: "Neither a borrower nor a lender be - Shakespeare." His riposte is: "F**k you - David Mamet." But Mamet is more than a coiner of down-and-dirty language embedded in riveting dramas. He is also a consummate man of the theatre who has written erudite and analytical essays about it.

This early (1977) play, some 80 minutes long, looks at two actors and seeks to extract from their exchanges some of the essence of their profession. One (Robert) is elderly, close to being an old-fashioned ham; the other (John) is young, perhaps in his 20s, and climbing. We see them in a series of brief encounters, on and off stage, over a period of time, and observe their changing relationship.

Their first conversations are couched in very tentative terms as they offer each other little compliments and the occasional oblique criticism, hastily qualified if queried. Robert is the confident, almost bullying one here, expecting his junior to bow to his opinions. But an actor needs his ego, and John slowly begins to parry and counter his mentor's strictures, constructive advice on the surface but really a poisoned chalice.

Time passes, Robert gets some bad reviews and John some good ones, and they soon have different opinions on the merits of critics. The play closes with the old gradually giving way to the new and the baton passing to younger hands.

This is a slice of life on the stage, not wholly representative but seeded with pointed observations and credible psychology. It is also very funny, as when the actors forget their lines in life as they do in plays. Des Cave and Stewart Roche create a witty and resonant pastiche of contrasting thespians defending their turf, directed with flair by Brian McCarthy, who also designed the excellent set. They offer theatre with a worthwhile difference.

Runs until April 12th

Gerry Colgan

The Warlocks at Whelans, Dublin

Their name makes them sound like some medieval gothic metal band, singing about dragons, goblins and hellfire, with a wild-eyed singer who sets his hair on fire, but this LA collective look more like shady NY punks and deal in ultracool drone-rock that conjures up a satanic Spiritualized or The Cure expanded into a biker gang. The heliophobic seven-piece avoid the glare of sunny Californian rock, taking a darker route that suggests they'd rather be in rainy Manchester watching a double-header with Joy Division and The Fall.

It only takes about two chords to make up a typical Warlocks tune, but it needs at least two drummers, three guitarists and a battery of effects pedals to deliver those tunes at the right shade of black. Stars, Hurricane Heart Attack and Song For Nico are drenched in fountains of feedback but, thankfully, never drowned in waves of white noise. The Warlocks like to leave a little space between the cavern-filling chords, so the crowd can at least peer into the musical chasm.

Vocalist Bobby Hecksher looks like an extra from The Crow, but his singing is mercifully absent of cod-goth histrionics; guitarist Corey Lee Granet skulks stage left, his icy spray of guitar lines seeming to come from thin air; keyboard player Laura Grigsby bangs her tambourine, shakes her maracas and smokes her cigarette like Nico's valley-girl cousin.

Soon the nerves give way to bashful bravado, and The Warlocks whirl into Stickman Blues, Caveman Rock and Angry Demons with the loose, cosmic jamming attitude they've been renowned for. They may be selling our music back to us, but who's arguing when the staff is so cool?

Kevin Courtney

Leonard/Lynch/Butt at Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin

^{Divertimento In E flat, K563 - Mozart}

The repertoire for string trio is small compared with that for piano trio, although Mozart showed in his K563 that a masterpiece could be written in this medium. It may be called a divertimento, but it is diverting only in the sense that a Mozart or Beethoven quartet is diverting; it is not background music for a soirée of fainéant noblemen but a very beautiful and serious work that requires the listener to divert his attention from profit and loss and other mundanities.

Its sublimity was well conveyed in the inspirational playing of Catherine Leonard (violin), John Lynch (viola) and William Butt (cello). During its six movements, which last an hour, one was continually impressed by the players' ability to translate the sounds into messages of wonder and awe and cheerfulness, according to the shifting moods of the music. The balance of the parts, the well-chosen speeds, the rhythmic flow and the attention to subtle changes of emphasis contributed to a performance that was full of vigour and never allowed detail, though carefully considered, to impede progress.

There have been many fine performances in the gallery's free series. This was one of the finest.

Douglas Sealy