Trifled
New Theatre, Temple Bar
★★★☆☆
“Hi guys, it’s me: Stickyslut69!″ is not exactly a line one expects to hear in a play about mental illness, but Caitlin Magnall-Kearns’s Trifled, which dissects that narrative admirably, shows that a topic such as this one need not be set within the confines of a hospital bed.
Trifled opens with Jen, a young Northern Irish woman whose agoraphobia has rendered her housebound for two years. But we’re not asked for sympathy. Jen is not a victim. She is swearing, combative, sex positive and entrepreneurial. She films niche pornographic content for her Only Fans and spends endless hours scowling at daytime TV. A love for the latter is shared by Harry, a heartbroken English university lecturer who lands on her doorstep. The pair talk, cry, joke and move in a way that feels intimate, true and human.
The result is a comedic retelling of a modern romance, one in which everyone needs saving and no one is a prince. The intimacy of the New Theatre leans into this idea beautifully; you feel as if you could reach out and touch the low self-worth that haunts Jen, who is played convincingly by Laura McAleenan. The Lír graduate is joined by Mark Fitzgerald, who gives a touching portrayal of the mild-mannered Harry, a man at a crossroads, who is gently caressing Jen into the person he wishes her to be.
Magnall-Kearns was chosen from thousands to be part of the BBC Comedy Collective for 2024. Trifled’s most reliable comic strategy is poking fun at what’s most obvious: the ridiculous nature of an agoraphobic porn creator; the slapstick of pouring jelly down one’s trousers. In the end the show turns to sentiment to keep our hummingbird brains engaged: Harry pivots from submissive to dominant, and Jen begins to fill out the parts she has left dormant for some time.
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Despite some awkwardness, Magnall-Kearns’s play, which is loosely inspired by her own experience of agoraphobia, does an excellent job of showing us the reality-irreality fault line. In the end we learn that her characters are more than the sum of their parts – and to always remember that we don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors.
Though Trifled may tell a seemingly simple story – boy meets girl; love ensues – we know that nothing could be less simple or more daunting. Trifled shines a light inward rather than panning out to survey the cultural field. The production, as a result, is bawdy, line-crossing, occasionally moving and always fun.
Continues at the New Theatre, as part of Dublin Theatre Festival, until Saturday, October 12th
