A look at the world of the arts
The Flags
Andrews Lane Theatre
An excellent set design gets this blackish farce by Bridget O'Connor off to a flying start.
A sandy, littered foreshore with a ramshackle hut, a half-buried car wreck and a crumpled flag is home to a pair of lifeguards, and we surmise immediately that they are comically incompetent, a mess like the terrain for which they are responsible.
And so it proves. JJ is the mature one, at least in age, and his one remaining ambition is to patrol a better class of beach.
The younger Howie is equally gormless, content to splash in the wake of his pal's pseudo-wisdom.
As the plot develops, we become aware that they have - literally - covered up some mistakes of a serious nature so as not to prejudice their advancement.
Councillor Brendan has the giving of the desired promotions, but also has an elderly, unmarried sister he would like to shed to JJ. A mysterious woman, Ursula, turns up to confront JJ with past indiscretion. These complexities sail past Howie's limited powers of comprehension, leaving him ripe for exploitation.
None of this is remotely credible, or intended to be. The author's target is the funnybone, and she hits it with some regularity throughout the play.
A duo of ill-matched males who strike comic sparks off each other have been the basis for rich comedy since Laurel met Hardy and the Odd Couple first co-habited. Here, JJ (Francis Magee) is solid as the quasi-normal one, and Howie (Jamie Beamish) is the near-loon in an inspired performance. Kieran Cunningham and Siobhan McSweeney complete the excellent cast, directed by Greg Hersov.
That best of medicines, laughter, is never far away in this well-constructed comedy, which had its premiere in Manchester earlier this year.
Runs to Oct 28
Gerry Colgan
Gerard Gillen (organ)
Pro-Cathedral, Dublin
Schumann - Four Sketches Op 58. Fugues on B.A.C.H. Op 60 Nos 1 and 3. Reger - Scherzo Op 65 No 10. Benedictus Op 59 No 9. Introduction and Passacaglia in D minor.
Character was a word that came to mind repeatedly during this recital, the last in the annual series at the Pro-Cathedral.
Gerard Gillen played six of the 12 works that Schumann wrote for pedal-piano. In the Four Sketches Op 58, which are perhaps the hardest of these pieces to transfer convincingly to organ, he struck a persuasive balance between the extremes that one often hears.
Some players choose a straightforward piano-style of playing with joined-up phrasing, but at the risk of blurring the textures. Others choose a more detached style that is native to the organ, but that risks over-emphasising this music's quirkiness. Especially in the fourth of the sketches, Gillen's approach felt perfect - a combination of nicely coloured registration and a touch that made things just clear enough.
The richly contrapuntal textures of the Fugues on B.A.C.H. Op 60 Nos 1 and 3 present far fewer difficulties of that kind. The first of these was one of the most striking pieces in the recital, thanks partly to Gerard Gillen's use of a technique that used to be standard when the organ fugues of Bach were viewed through romantic spectacles - the long crescendo from beginning to end.
With Reger we stepped into organ textures of the most authentic kind; and the playing had authority to match. The Benedictus Op 59 No 9 was beautifully done. The contrast between the middle section's steady pulse and the outer sections' elastic pulse and sinuous part-progression helped to give this remarkable piece an apt, high-mystic atmosphere.
A strong account of the Introduction and Passacaglia in D minor made a magisterial conclusion to this recital and the series. No wonder this is the most widely admired of all Reger's compositions for organ.
Martin Adams
