A review by Vanessa Bunn for EXTRA! EXTRA!
The Irish Giant depicts the story of one giant, Charles Byrne (Neil Haigh), naïve as he is tall, who is in London to seek his fortune by marketing himself as a curiosity. Byrne’s tale is linked to that of eminent surgeon, John Hunter (Brian Logan), who covets the giants remains to conduct studies on his condition. The timing of this production is curiously perfect, opening week has coincided with summer remembering to take its seasonal turn and the performance is housed in a cool, spacious vault in the Victorian arches beneath London Bridge train station. Relief is scarcely counted amongst theatre-going emotions and it soon morphs into sheer delight as it becomes plain that Cartoon de Salvo are intent on entertaining with this relentlessly immersive creation.
The play opens with the death of Hunter and the reaction of his top three students. The audience, positioned as members of the student body, are as involved as the bereaved scholars when the deceased master’s voice crackles over the airwaves to deliver a final command, his cadaver must be used for research to find the answer to his most profound and unresolved question; “is there a material basis for the soul?”. The rest of the action follows a retrospective narrative through the life, ambitions and motivations of John Hunter after the students are swallowed up into his corpse in a wonderful illusion by Paul Murray. The acquisition of Charles Byrne is foremost amongst his preoccupations and so the two stories intermingle with ease, threaded together by employed watchman John (Alex Murdoch) who cuts a rather endearing, albeit shady, grim reaper figure who cannot help but befriend the lonely Charles Byrne.
The preposterously talented trio frequently burst into delightful musical turns, composed by Daniel Marcus Clarke, which could easily rival the nu-folk outfits making popular charts in recent years. Musically and vocally all three are enthusiastic and very capable and Alex Murdoch’s voice is particularly arresting. Various bottles of potions and hooks hanging from the ceiling are teamed with an ominous operating table, backed by a huge sheet which separates the stage area from the open space behind. Another well-worn medical screen is wheeled on and off to house projected animations by Rebecca Hurst. The images tell simple and concise sections of the two men’s stories and use words and illustrations to comical effect adding a welcome extra dimension to the production.
Running at 90 minutes without interval The Irish Giant has the potential to seem long. Thanks to the unpretentious, cajoling and versatile nature of the production it is consistently riveting. The attention to detail is splendid; at one stage the changing seasons are subtly represented through the contents of large specimen jars, as a complete aside. The adventurous attitude of the three actors is infectious and they embrace their changing roles with ease. The Irish Giant posits far more questions than it answers. It is a gambol through the opposing stances on faith versus science and tradition versus progress. One thing I was sure of leaving, is that as far as progressive, immersive theatre goes Cartoon de Salvo have their fingers on the pulse.