Review: Shining City, in rep at Theatre by the Lake, Keswick

Jul 19 2010 by Barbara Hodgson, The Journal

AT a therapist’s office in modern-day Dublin, there’s a ring at the doorbell and the arrival of a new client, John, sets in motion this riveting little tale about grief, loneliness and denial.

The confines of the theatre’s small upstairs studio and the sound of rain outside sets the atmosphere for five scenes of growing intensity, spanning a period of July to March as John – played by Robert Calvert – recounts his story to Ian (Patrick Bridgman).

While Ian isn’t a therapist you’d want to spend good money on – he doesn’t have a lot to say – John is a perfect study of a grief-stricken widower sent half mad with a terrible guilt.

Conor McPherson’s play – which won him a Tony Award nomination – is billed as a ghost story. It comes with a “shock” moment – and I’m not spoiling it here – but it’s too fleeting (though I suppose shocks are) and too late to really resonate.

And while the spooky element is at the heart of John’s account, it’s in the detailed telling of his personal anguish that this play works so well.

Here, Calvert is excellent, utterly absorbing in his performance and probably best at making McPherson’s stop-start dialogue sound realistic.

His three fellow cast members make the most of more limited roles, with Bridgman’s therapist getting a chance to come into his own when his own personal crisis is highlighted in scenes with newly-met Laurence (Adam O’Brian) and partner Neasa (Sarah Groarke) who even at the height of her anguish reminded me of Mrs Doyle from Father Ted.

An enjoyable production and, at an hour and 40 minutes or so without interval, it maintains tension, leaving us with a twist to keep us thinking.

Look out for a feature on Theatre by the Lake in the August edition of Culture magazine which comes free with The Journal next Tuesday, July 27.