By Daniel Lillford
La Mama at the Courthouse May 27 until June 10, 2000
Reviewer: Kate
Herbert
The opening scene of
Thy Kingdom Come is exceptionally well written. In fact, it was originally a
discrete short play until writer, Daniel Lillford, developed it into the script
we see today.
Two young Belfast men stand enshrouded in mist on a muddy
field they remember from childhood. One (Ezra Bix) believes he is to be
knee-capped for sleeping with the daughter of an IRA leader. He has no idea of
the actual punishment awaiting him at the hands of his childhood friend, Brian.
(Joe Clements)
Lillford writes striking dialogue. It ducks and weaves,
surprising us with its truth and metaphor. He captures the Northern Irish idiom
impeccably, as do Clements and Bix.
What follows the opening is almost a series of playlets with
common on- and off-stage characters threaded through them. Two women (Helen
Hopkins, Carolyn Bock OK) talk in a pub. One is the lover of the doomed man in
scene one. She too is fated.
Two republicans (Justin Foster & Bix) hold and torture a
hostage but are caught in a British attack. A young woman (Bock) awaits a
friend at a bus-stop cafe with a love-starved boy (Foster) and a canny old
Irishwoman (Maureen Hartley). An older journalist (Jim Shaw) writes a book
about The Troubles, to the chagrin of his young lover. (Bock)
The vignettes are hooked together with patriotic monologues
from IRA soldiers, funeral speeches and outpourings of grief, rage and loss
from ordinary citizens.
The play highlights "the politics of hate" which
rule and ruin the face of Ireland. In this play, an irrational, clannish,
primitive, superstitious and parochial Ireland is eating itself from the inside
as much as it is lashing out at England.
The dialogue, characters and relationships are Lillford's
strength in this text. The narrative and structure need some re-jigging.
Performances are all very good although a couple of accents need some
attention.
Direction by Kevin Hopkins and Greg Carroll is sleek, swift
and innovative. It is enhanced by dramatic lighting (Ian Patching) and a
throbbing sound design. (John Scott)
The opening scene is re-incorporated at the end when the
assassin (Clements) seeks absolution from a priest. (Shaw) Is there any such
thing for sins against one's own people?
By Kate Herbert
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