Forty-Four Sycamore - Bernard Farrell

Dublin: Andrew's Lane Theatre
June 19 - August 24

Touring Ireland through November 11

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    Forty-Four Sycamore is a comedy of class set in an Ireland seated uneasily upon the back of the Celtic Tiger. First produced in 1996, the play captures the sense of panic which has gripped the nouveau riche. The beneficiaries of the economic boom are uncomfortable with their newfound affluence, vulgar in their determination to enjoy the fruits of their success, and uncertain of how to react to one another in social situations.
    The story takes place over a fraught evening on the Sycamore Estate as newly-arrived couple Vinny (Sean Power) and Joan (Jenny Maher) entertain established locals Derek (Ciaran McMahon) and Hilary (Fiona Browne). Vinny, formerly a ‘Mr. Fixit’ employee, has risen up in the world to become a "security engineer", but Joan, unable to shed her working class roots, is not entirely happy with the move. Though she has befriended an elderly man living in an old house at the edge of the estate (Niall O’Brien), she is nervous even with her own expectations.
    When Derek and Hilary arrive, things seem to take a turn for the worse. Their apparent self-assurance and affected sophistication are a world away from anything Joan has ever known, and though she is eager to impress, nothing seems to go right. The cracks in the visiting couple’s veneer begin to show fairly quickly though. Derek is in advertising, though Hilary likes to think of him as a doctor (he attends first aid classes and has trophies for his prowess). Both of them seem to despise the old man, who has also been invited for drinks, and there are signs of marital tensions which will become more pronounced as the evening progresses.
    The first act is an entertaining and nicely observed lounge-room comedy concentrating on the hypocrisies and petty tyrannies of suburban manners. It is fairly generic, but there are many entertaining details, such as Vinny and Joan’s squabbling over grammar, Vinny’s obsession with his hi-tech security system, the situation comedy which transpires when Derek and Hilary reveal that they have arrived expecting dinner in spite of Vinny’s assurance to Joan that they had only come for drinks, and the running gag about Derek’s physical resemblance to a doctor (a joke later revealed to have hidden depths). The farce is well staged and well played, demonstrating good comic timing and a subtlety in characterization which allows for the slow erosion of initial impressions that works both narratively and thematically.
    The arrival of Mr. Prentice (O’Neill) in the second act moves things to an altogether different level. Strains of allegory become more visible as it is shown that the old man is a retired farmer, and the estate has been constructed partly on his land. A sense of the shifting textures of the physical and social landscape begins to inform the play. The theme ascends to narrative conflict as Derek confronts Prentice about his attempts to block further residential development. Darker, more pointed satire is in evidence, and even the plot moves away from polite frivolity towards something more conspicuously ironic.
    An older, more familiar Ireland underlies everything that is seen, not only in the form of the struggle over Prentice’s land, but in the emergence of familiar rhythms of personal and social interaction. Joan and Hilary connect over points of domestic conspiracy, Vinny and Derek sneak a bottle of whisky out of the room as they ‘go to inspect the security system’, the influence of mothers is felt and seen, and the rivalries and deceptions of the past hold the key to the realities of the present. In spite of the peach-colored furniture, the remote-controlled lights and intercoms, and the sense of wealth and social advancement, people are subject to the same weaknesses and, eventually, show the same strengths.
    There is much that is worthwhile in Bernard Farrell’s text, and director Jim Nolan has generally drawn it out. The cast respond well to the mixture of farce and satire. Each develops their character’s voice and mannerisms gradually, stripping away the pretences in a series of movements which correspond with the progress of the plot. There are a few scenes in which the acting fails though, especially the all-important confrontation between McMahon and O’Neill. McMahon’s transition from frustration to violence is too abrupt to be believable, leaving the audience wondering if the play is losing its way rather than turning the screws. Luckily there is enough plot left for it to regain its rhythm, and the acting is sufficiently skilful to execute the tricky ending, where the ‘new’ and ‘old’ Ireland meet in mutual fraudulence and coercion. Though it is being presented as light summer entertainment, there is a contextual complexity here which makes it both enjoyable and rewarding.