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A CurtainUp 
London Review
London ReviewPhiladelphia Here I Come!
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I’ll probably go to night school as well. . . you know, at night.
— Gar
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Rory Keenan as Gar in Private and Paul Reid as Gar in Public (Photo: Johan Persson) |
Paul Reid is the public face of Gar with Rory Keenan as his more provocative private self. Friel like no other playwright conveys humanity with all its foibles, spinning eloquent words into recognisable characters for whom we have affection, tinged with a sense of regret. The poetry of some of Friel’s descriptive passages is brilliantly evocative, full of emotion and realism.
The emotional centre of the play is motherless Gar’s relationship with his widowed father S.B. O’Donnell (James Hayes), more usually referred to as Screwballs, but this relationship also makes for high but painful comedy when O’Donnell senior repeats the stock phrases he always uses. However when we are given a glimpse of what life will be like with Aunt Lizzy (Julia Swift) in Philadelphia, on her last visit to Ireland, we have private doubts for Gar’s future happiness. Childless Lizzy says, “It’s godawful because we have no one to share it with.”
We see Gar with Madge (Valerie Lilley) the kindly drudge housekeeper, with the girl he had hoped to marry Kate Doogan (Laura Donnelly) and in the bar with his contemporaries, the bragging Ned (Killian Burke) and the unpleasant Tom (Conor Macneil). When his son is longing for some shared memory of happier times, O’Donnell poignantly does not recall them. Spurred on by Private Gar, Public Gar is told, “Keep on. It’s the silence that is the enemy.” These scenes give Friel’s play a sense of loss and longing for what might have been as well as to describe a whole generation of immigrants from Ireland to America.
Rob Howell’s tall set concentrates on Gar’s bedroom with to the fore, the living room of the house but with shelves and shelves behind showing what was on sale in the Ballybeg general store he and his father work in.
Paul Reid is appealing, innocent and mostly serious as Gar in public but Rory Keenan as his alter ego has some excellent, uninhibited fun. There are fantasy scenes when Gar pictures a movie type life in America or uses American language. The Donmar once again hits the spot with a great production of Brian Friel’s rich play.
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| Philadelphia Here I Come!
Written by Brian Friel Directed by Lyndsey Turner Starring: James Hayes, Paul Reid, Rory Keenan, Laura Donnelly, Valerie Lilley With: Conor Macneil, Julia Swift, Benny Young, Killian Burke, Ruairi Conaghan, Dylan Kennedy Design: Rob Howell Lighting: Tim Lutkin Composer: Michael Bruce Sound: Christopher Shutt Movement: Ann Yee Running time: One hour 50 minutes including an interval Box Office: 0844 871 7624 Website: www.donmarwarehouse.com Booking to 22nd September 2012 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 1st August 2012 performance at Donmar Warehouse, 41 Earlham Street, London WC2H 9LX (Tube: Covent Garden) |
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