Everyman Palace Theatre Cork

Sam Shepard’s evocations of the American West, the country of cowboys, rodeos, whiskey and wild wild women, are condensed in

Fool for Love

with such economy that this Keegan Theatre production seems more like a first act than a one-act play.

Captured in a grimy motel, two warring lovers excavate their legacy of desertion and betrayal, obsession and longing for stability – this last expressed as a simple desire to go to the movies. The movies, however, is a place where nobody’s going: in this study of fantasy, that’s a fantasy too far, even in a play haunted by references.

Eddie and May are definitely lovers and may be half-brother and sister, their relationship doomed by a sibling rivalry articulated by another presence which may, or may not, be that of their father, described as gone but not disconnected.

The structured development, through monologues designed to offer versions of the truth, can’t withstand the pace and volume with which the action instantly erupts, neither can the commitment of the cast replace the skills required to make this piece convincing.

There’s probably no such thing as a slow rodeo, but the best riders know how to get the pace right. In stepping out of character at the curtain-call, Mark A Rhea (Eddie) certainly got things right in offering a sincere tribute to the late Mick Lally. Runs until September 4th then goes on nationwide tour