Tarry in London

Meanwhile, in London, the Abbey's production of Tarry Flynn is enjoying a warm critical reception for its short run at the Royal National Theatre adds Helen Meany. All the reviews praise the exuberant ensemble staging by director Conall Morrison, who, writes Michael Billington in the Guardian, "uses all the arts of storytelling: narration, choric speech and choreographed movement". "Clearly an outstanding director", he continues, Morrison, who adapted Patrick Kavanagh's novel, has used the text "as a springboard for the creation of a total world." Kate Kellaway in the Observer also praises the "extraordinary" ensemble staging, while bemoaning the lack of dramatic substance: "it never quite becomes a play. It is difficult, unless you are Chekhov, to make a drama out of a love affair that won't get off the ground, or neighbourly discord with no resolution." The performances of James Kennedy as Tarry, Pauline Flanagan as his razor-tongued mother and Mary O'Driscoll as the object of his affections are singled out for high praise in most reviews, as are Francis O'Connor's stage design and David Bolger's "expressive" choreography. According to the Nick Curtis in the Evening Standard, "the only major bar to serious enjoyment is that the blarneying quaintness is laid on a bit too thickly." "But", concludes Paul Taylor in the Independent, in a comparison with the work of Martin McDonagh, "if this production is ingratiating at times, at least it is free of cynicism and post-modern knowingness."