Reviewed today are A New York Songbook - Way Off Broadway and The Witching Well

A New York Songbook - Way Off Broadway

Pavilion, Dún Laoghaire

Gerry Colgan

The format of this entertaining musical show is virtually identical to that of, many years ago, Side by Side by Sondheim. Three singers, one man and two women accompanied by a piano, sing songs from the current scene on Broadway, Off Broadway and cabaret. Most of them have not been performed here before, and they are clearly indebted to the later Sondheim. One does not leave the theatre humming simple melodies and words, but listening to them on-stage, with their complexities of wit and emotion, is pure pleasure.

The lyrics are dominant, spinning out mini-stories and themes. It opens with the rousing ensemble number A New World, moving to the clever The Latte Boy and the naughty Arthur in the Afternoon, in which a woman happily pays for sex. The Audition Song reflects the agonies inherent in this side of showbiz, and The Morning After is a satirical slant on romance. I Want Them Bald probes a common - yes? - leaning of women towards the hairless male.

Between the satirical and the beady-eyed are inserted emotionally charged love songs. Now That I Know and Old Friend are bitter-sweet reflections on sentimental relationships, and For Good celebrates true friendship.

There are some 22 songs, without a jingle or a plodder among them. Three harmonious ensemble numbers, ending with the very beautiful I'll Be Here With You, close the performance.

Danna Davis, a New Yorker living in Edenderry, Ellen McElroy from Dublin and Kenneth W Gartman from Texas are the trio, David Wray is the pianist and musical director, and the director is Alan Kinsella. They create a delightful evening that impacts the emotions and intellect.

The Witching Well

An Grianán Theatre, Letterkenny

Martin McGinley

Storyteller Joe Brennan's commission from An Grianán for this year's Earagail Festival proved a big winner for the kids, who hardly budged as a succession of fabled characters took the stage - among them the witch, a giant, rapping leprechauns, a wise fish and a talking cat.

Sean and his sister Anne are deep in the forest when they come upon the Witching Well, which is supposedly under a spell from the wicked witch. They're having a little row, as siblings do, and Sean unwisely wishes he didn't have a sister. Of course, he spends the rest of the play trying to get her back.

The engaging drama unfolds on a simple but rather beautiful stage set designed by Guy Barriscale. On one level it has the ingredients of classic morality tales - Sean repenting of words spoken in haste, Skitter the cat seeking redemption for working with evil forces, and Nellie the witch finding out what happens to someone with overreaching ambition.

But its success lies in capturing the imagination of its young audience with a strong storyline, good performances from the Donegal cast of four, and plenty of pace and invention. The leprechauns, menacing puppets who venture into the trans-Atlantic rap scene before being mesmerised by Sean's Irish tune, are just one of the many variations on traditional material.

The Witching Well doesn't really play it for laughs, although there are a few of those, but Joe Brennan's long experience of diverting children pays off as he delivers an hour of absorbing and innovative entertainment.