No Ordinary Fool

There is always something decidedly irritating about a play that blatantly refers to the work of great writers such as Eugene O’Neill and William Falkner. Perhaps it is the self-aggrandisement that such name-dropping implies. Perhaps it is the insinuation that the audience is too pig ignorant to be able to draw such parallels for themselves without the assistance of some whacking great signposts in the script. Either way, it does take some of the good out of any positive assessment of this work by American playwright Christopher Shinn. That said, though, there is equally some validity to the observation that the play makes at least as many references to mass entertainment vehicles such as The Daily Show and Law & Order. Therefore, on balance, there is conceivably no disruption to the cosmic harmony at all!

Set in New York several years after the destruction of the World Trade Centre, the play examines the events of two different evenings spent in a cold and impersonal-looking apartment. The audience’s interest is initially piqued by an awkward reunion between Kelly (Gemma Mae Halligan) and an unexpected guest, her brother-in-law Peter (Paul Mallon). It is then gradually drip-fed enough information over the course of the play to piece together the dynamics of the triangular relationship formed by Kelly, Peter, and their husband/twin brother respectively Craig (also played by Paul Mallon). He had died a year previously whilst serving in Iraq, but appears now in flashback scenes that depict the last night that he ever spent with Kelly.

Posing more questions than it intends to answer, this voyeuristic play is a sombre meditation on themes such as deception, grief, and moral weakness. The notion of a dying city here far exceeds the shroud of smoke that hung over New York on 11 September 2001. Rather, it encompasses a spiritual vacuity that the cipher-like characters are blindly fumbling around in. Psychotherapist Kelly has become emotionally withdrawn. Actor Peter displays puppy-dog vulnerability. Soldier Craig is burdened by an unspeakable sense of guilt. Indeed, the attack on the city has only served to inflame tensions that were already deep-rooted – be it class distinctions, childhood legacies, or jealousy of a sibling closeness.

Under the direction of Des Kennedy, this production from the Rough Magic Theatre Company has a grim and taut intensity to it. However, the material does not allow either actor to especially shine. Gemma Mae Halligan is mostly confined by the automaton-like nature of her character, whilst Paul Mallon gets scant minutes between oscillations in personality. Equally, the key plot device of Craig’s emails is oddly handled by Mr. Shinn, even if there is some dark humour to be had in perversions such as a communication where criticisms of the war are not censored, whilst personal ones are.

On the whole, this is a bleak but somewhat underwhelming piece about shattered lives. One can only hope, though, that it did not take Mr. Shinn as many episodes of Law & Order as it did Kelly to figure out its formulaic and unrealistically excessive nature!