Celtic Twilight (1996)
Senior College thespians this year tackled three classic Irish plays in an evening entitled 'Celtic Twilight', and the large audiences found plenty to be enthusiastic about. Intriguingly sub titled 'Haunting Images of Ireland from the Abbey Theatre Dublin', the three plays were 'Spreading the News' by Lady Augusta Gregory, 'Cathleen in Houlihan' by Nobel laureate W. B. Yeats, and J. M. Synge's immortal 'Riders to the Sea'. The choice of plays provided an excellent range of emotions, and the talented casts of the respective plays relished the particular dramatic challenges posed by each. The biggest crowds for a number of years at a Senior Play testified to the enduring popularity of Irish literature in our changing culture.
'Spreading the News', which opened the programme, lightly satirised Irish blarney, and produced some sparkling performances, none better than Gale Schupack's Mrs Tarpey, a little gem of comic invention. Paul Bernath was excellent as the put-upon Bartlcy Fallon, while Michelle Pose's outstanding stage presence ensured that Mrs Fallon was a commanding figure. Oliver Fhomas, Daniel Steiner and Joel Davey contributed splendidly to the comic mood as a trio of gossipy yokels, aided and abetted by a suitably snaky Mrs Tully (Anna Rogers). James Lightfoot and Andre Didenkowski represented 'The Law' with appropriate stodginess and opacity, while Aubrey Milliron as Jack Smith epitomised everyone's idea of the wild-haired Irish balladeer; a stereotype, true, but a thoroughly delightful one. Aubrey's skills as a fiddler provided an engaging musical interlude which led us into the altogether darker mood of the second play 'Cathleen in Houlihan', a political allegory with a disturbing climax and an agonisingly relevant message about Ireland's woes. Patrick O'Neil, Eloise Hogan, Simon Horsburgh and Max (iarner portrayed the blighted (iillane family with utter conviction, poignantly establishing for the audience both its closeness and fatal vulnerability. Berry Liberman was a haunting presence as the Old Woman, chillingly exhorting her young men to pay the ultimate price. Her 'seduction' of the innocent Michael provided some of the dramatic highlights of the evening.
Maxine Haverfield made the most of a small part at the end to underscore the heart-breaking nature of her loss, and one could see in her desolate figure, in the play's final image, the emotional fate of centuries of Irish women. Or, indeed, any women who see their men enchanted by visions of false glory.
The structure of the evening from light to dark was further apparent as, after the intermission, we were immersed in the relentlessly grim realities of Synge's 'Riders to the Sea'. This play's formidable reputation rests largely on its authentic but bleak portrayal of a woman who must endure the loss of all her men (six sons and a husband), and, as Maurya, Kate Rose gave us a truly memorable performance, investing the character with a tragic grandeur which never descended into bathos. Her stoic endurance was achingly plausible. Nicole Nabout and Sarah Wade, as Maurya's daughters, likewise gave wonderfully controlled and deeply felt performances. Fom O'Neil as the youngest and remaining son conveyed, in only a short time on stage, the depth and complexity of a doomed young man.
The evening ended fittingly on a transcendent note, and a moving rendition of 'Song for Ireland', led by Berry Liberman, brought the three casts together in a splendid finale. Tony Scanlon's imaginative settings which at times comfortably blended the naturalistic and the surreal, were a feature of this production, and complemented the insightful interpretations of the other directors, Clare (Cooper and Dawson Hann. Moody lighting was provided by Sabino Del Balso and his crew, while the costumes of Stephanie Des Barres and Jill Welch evoked the different periods of time with the necessary attention to detail. The love and respect for the material shone through every aspect of this memorable evening.
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