Theatre Review
Ibsen S A BIT OF IRISH
With Chris Sullivan Jermyn Street Theatre 17 – 22 March 2008 ta
A review by Marion Drew for EXTRA! EXTRA!
In A Bit of Irish, singer, storyteller and raconteurChris Sullivan presents snippets of Irish songs, poetry and stories in a celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. This well-travelled native Dubliner presents a rather hodge-podge assemblage of tunes and literary excerpts, all of Irish origin. In the company of what he assures us is his cup of tea, he takes us through his life in Dublin with his family, and in a rather balanced way intersperses song and spoken word. The singing and the guitar playing could perhaps be a little more polished, and the lighting could perhaps be a little less clichéd, and the storytelling a little slicker but there is real feeling in the recital of some of Yeats’ beautiful poetry, notably ‘The Stolen Child’ and every now and then we get a glimpse of the Irish blarney and humour, sometimes through off-the-cuff banter and through stories like Heno Magee’s ‘Jem’ and Pat Cooksey’s’ ‘The Sick Note’. Perhaps there could be a smarter pace to the evening and a little more structure to it, but somehow there is an appealing gentleness about Mr. Sullivan and the story of one man’s Irish heritage. Along the way we hear more than a little 20th century Irish history which is indeed entertaining, but for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration the great saint seems to take a bit of a back seat. However renditions of the well-known ‘Finnegan’s Wake’ and ‘The Wild Rover’ spurred the big-hearted audience into enthusiastic singing and clapping along. There is no set and besides the cup of tea, the props are a stool, a couple of hats for comic effect, a guitar and a small table which, when all is said and done, is probably all an Irish storyteller really needs.
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