Review: Tales of Ballycumber by Sebastian Barry at the Abbey Theatre

You may remember me talking about the stage. You may remember the playwright talking about the play. You may have entered to win tickets. You may have seen it mentioned as we talked about the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival 2009.

What you should do though is go see The Tales of Ballycumber by Sebastian Barry and starring Stephen Rea at the Abbey Theatre, playing until November 7 2009.

I was lucky enough to be invited to the opening night last Wednesday and one of the most gratifying things was to hear the gasp of amazement and impressed silence as people saw Mike Britton‘s set for the first time.

I realise the irony of course of including the photo above but you really have to know that the set without actors, without lighting, without that expectant hum of the audience, without the opening strains of the song at the start and without a reason to be is just the same as that photo - pretty to look at briefly but without anything to keep the eye drawn.

While the description on the play is a bit on the “well, that could be anything” side of things, the actual storyline is one that resonated with me deeply. It’s a simple play in some respects - a man lives alone on top of a hill, in the house he grew up in, the house he had till recently shared with his mother. A young neighbour calls in and they chat about the world, the weather, the lambs, Elvis and a girl.

Just two men having a chat, one youngster with the greatest of respect for his elder. Next day another neighbour calls in with grim news that has a huge effect on the central character. The play’s central piece is about this discovery and how people react to the news and the questions it provokes.

It is certainly, as one reviewer has called it, a “poignant and touching” story with Barry’s script being “rich and eloquent”. I have the feeling this play is special to Sebastian Barry, who has set it not far from where he is from. “If you live long enough, you’ll have everything explained to you” is a line I wrote from the play and it resonates throughout it.

No bright and breezy drama this. Here is a delicate play rooted heavy in a rural influence that both impressed and shook me. The area it’s set in - Ballycumber, Co Wicklow, is close to where my father’s family were from in Wexford. I’m familiar with the language, the dialect, the way of speaking, the imagery. I know the love of the land, the duty you owe to your parents, to the “bastes” of the field, to the past as much as the present. This is a play of memories and the way that people can be haunted by what they think they know and what they know.

The acting: Ballycumber has, relative to productions like Last Days of A Reluctant Tyrant, The Comedy of Errors or The Rivals, a tiny cast of only five. However, it’s pretty much all it needs, and Holly Ní Chardia has done a fantastic job once again in choosing the right people to fill these roles.

The main character, Nicholas, played by Stephen Rea is a simple, uncomplicated man in deep turmoil with the balance of his duties and what he wants to do. He’s a solitary character, unsure of his interaction with others, preferring his own company, missing the company of his mother and relishing the brief interactions he has with his neighbours. He lives for his memories of the past, for the radio, for the land. His driving force - something we don’t discover until much later in the play - is his fear of the past recurring.

Stephen Rea is awesome (and I use that word in its most literal meaning) in this role. I watched him transfixed as he wore the stage like an overcoat and became as central to the stage as the chimney. The contrast between his movements and the static elements of the set is captivating. His diction and his memory for the long, verbose passages is a skill I’d dearly love to have while his delivery of the rhetoric is one that I envy.

Other characters include a fantastic Aaron Monaghan as Evans, the neighbour boy whose apparent simplicity of being is betrayed by his own deep seeded desire and emotion. Liam Carney as Andrew may as well have actually been the character he plays, such was his suitability for the role (one he has replaced Dessie Gallagher in) and Tania played by Derbhle Crotty is a haunting yet imposing figure, eminently believable as Nicholas’s older sister. There are people who never make the stage at all but are as real as those we see.

Two aspects though that have stuck in my mind since seeing the play are the character of the Girl, played by Lisa Hogg, and the setting. The Girl is such a strong literary device here - the haunting of a man through his memory, perhaps his own want for children that he could never have through the choices he made, perhaps imaginary but very “welcome”. She provides a respite from the sheer weight of the history, of the past and of the things that can go on in a man’s mind. Though I was fearful of this play given Barry’s involvement and my dislike of his book “The Secret Scripture”, I had to shake his hand on Wednesday and congratulate him for what he had achieved. Well, him, the cast and the crew, if you get me.

Hogg is beautiful and it is her beauty in the midst of a beautiful set that seems to remind us that life can be pretty special from the outside, but never to take it as it seems. I’m not sure exactly how to describe the influence of this character on the piece - I’m sure those better suited to writing such reviews could cloak it in words but really I suppose it’s again my own past and experience, of knowing the land, the people, the small town events, the difference between city and country and then between country and hills that makes me feel this way. It really was, for me, a play of emotion.

And this is why the setting is so important. I didn’t get to chat properly with Niamh about the play but with her being from the wilds of Dublin 15, I can only imagine that her experience and thoughts on it are different to my own. Ballycumber is not a happy place, but it’s an Irish place. There is so much here - the rural lifestyle, loneliness, memories of parents, surviving as opposed to thriving, the contant demands of land and animals and people and just getting things done. Similarly I’ll return to the play with others, just to have a conversation about it. On the Abbey Website where they’re gathering reviews, one said

We saw the play this week with family members of 6 adults, we were all fascinated in different ways about the story, we talked for hours afterwards (over a pint mind)about the play and real life situations.

Very enjoyable, the acting was natural and the storyline intense, thought provoking and the set was realistic. Overall a very good show.

And I think if I was to take anything from it, it would be that. You will be fascinated in different ways. You may not be amused, you may not he “entertained” but you will feel that you have many many questions and look at people in a slightly different way, wondering what their story is.

Tales of Ballycumber is at the Abbey Theatre now until November 7. You can book tickets here. My thanks to David for the opportunity to review. Photos are by Ros Kavanagh and supplied by the Abbey.