One of Irish literature's finest comic creations, The Brother, made his return to the Dublin stage last week, but alas, all is changed, changed utterly. In his new show, Eamon Morrissey attempts to reconcile The Brother's quaint, outdated philosophy with today's Dublin, a bustling metropolis where the Celtic Tiger has taken hold.
The setting has been moved from the pub to the bed-sit, but the approach is still ostensibly the same: Morrissey relates tall tales concerning his shadowy elder sibling who, if the stories are to be believed, is an accomplished surgeon, philosopher, theologian and scientist. The only evidence that the brother actually exists comes from a disembodied voice which cuts in at regular intervals, a theatrical device which takes time to get used to.
Morrissey delights us with old favourites from the works of Flann O'Brien/Myles Na Gopaleen, including the "mollycule theory" and A Pint Of Plain Is Your Only Man, but all is not what it seems. In the second act, he sets us up for a bizarre and macabre twist in the tale of two brothers, ending on a dark note which is more Third Policeman than Cruiskeen Lawn.
Morrissey's delivery and comic timing are perfect, and with The Other Brother he takes some of O'Brien's more familiar themes, weaves them into new permutations and then wraps them around himself like a second skin.
Until November 20th. To book, phone: 01-6797760