The Shaughraun, MTC/STC/QTC 17 Nov 1994

 

The Shaughraun by Dion Boucicault

Melbourne Theatre Company & Sydney Theatre Company & Queenland Theatre Company Playhouse until Dec 23

Reviewer: Kate Herbert around 17 Nov 1994

This review was published in the Melbourne Times after 17 November 1994. KH

The Irish have always been known for overcoming adversity, surviving oppression, spinning a bloody good yarn or a self-deprecating joke. The Shaughraun written by Dion Boucicault in 1873, is a feisty melodrama with more punch than those being done by the English at the same time.

 

The humour of the text seems timeless and still relevant now. It is the wickedness of Conn the Shaughraun himself (Marcus Graham) upon which the play surfs. A shaughraun ("Shok-ron" or "Sha-ron") was the town wag, a fiddle player who kept watch for the police and was often the reason they came a-visitin'.

 

Graham's delightful portrayal bears a strong resemblance to the Italian Arlequino. He is passionate, impish and athletic in the extreme, leaping effortlessly in and out of windows. He engages the audience, enlist our support and sympathy for his naughty doings and carries on blithely seducin', rescuin', fightin' and dyin'.

 

The melodrama style is captured superbly by Gail Edwards fast-paced direction and recurrent tableaux effects. Particularly in the second half, it takes on a Keystone Cops speed, complete with chase scenes, hissing and booing by the audience of the villainous Corry Kinchella (Bob Hornery) and abducted damsels.

 

The romance counterpoints the drama, the slapstick heightens the genuine pain and oppression of this period of English occupation. (So what's changed?)

 

There are some terrifically energetic performances. Anne Looby as Claire Folliott, is a vibrant and excitingly unpredictable Irish colleen and Mark Owen-Taylor is perfect as her excruciatingly humble lover, English Captain Molineux. Jonathon Hardy as Father Dolan has impeccable comic timing and provides a delicate and poignant moment as he struggles with his moral dilemma, "To lie or not to lie?"

 

Pagan and Catholic as only the Irish can do. It's a romp and a lot of fun to cheer and yell and boo. It's easy to see why more people went to the theatre at the turn of the century to see melodramas than go now.

 

Not the least of the performances was by the extraordinary set designed by Dale Ferguson. The Cliffs of County Sligo are recreated on stage in harsh rock and lurid green moss along with the hovels of the poor. The set was almost the victim of a recalcitrant revolving stage on opening night but a 40-minute delay of the curtain and much backstage anxiety and action remedied the problem.

 

The Shaughraun is both Pagan and Catholic as only the Irish can be. It's a romp and a lot of fun to cheer and yell and boo. It explains why more people went to the theatre to see melodramas at the turn of the century than go to the theatre nowadays.

 

KATE HERBERT

 

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