The action of the play is captured through colourful snapshots of conversation between characters on the patio of an otherwise characterless South Dublin mansion. The play’s protagonist Gareth spends the majority of it’s 75 minutes lounging in the hot tub, signified by a pair of sunglasses gazing leisurely out of a plastic shell pool. It is through Gareth’s five companions, who appear one by one, at first seemingly disconnected, that a picture begins to form of who Gareth is and what has drawn this diverse bunch together.
It emerges that it is the anniversary of the death of Gareth’s mother and the last to be celebrated in the family home. After a year of booming business, he will be heading to Japan. There is a sense that things are wrapping up, but also that everything may not be as dandy as the beer laden bravado would suggest.
From his opening line of “Yo, Faggot!”, it is difficult to like Irish-American golfer, Liam. He is obnoxious, self congratulatory and misogynistic. However, the other male characters, which include a laddish Irish plumber, a lady loving Spaniard and a German businessman, aren’t much better. Gareth’s ex girlfriend, the quietly spoken Mairéad, offers respite from the anecdotes of her sex obsessed male counterparts and paints a picture of Gareth’s softer side. It is also through interaction with her that the other characters are able to some extent redeem themselves, with tender reflections on love and relationships.
A theme of karmic retribution runs throughout, with Darren the plumber articulating his belief in Newton’s third law of motion, that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. There is a sense of inertia that drives the play to it’s climax in which Gareth has an unseen, unexpected and somewhat inexplicable confrontation with his neighbour.
It is in the final minutes as the flustered characters reconstruct the previous night’s enigmatic event, that we are informed, almost offhandedly of the childhood abuse and domestic violence inflicted upon Gareth and his mother by his father. Perhaps what Loughnane is gleaning at is how these unacceptable tropes of hyper masculinity and violence cannot exist without consequence.
Created and performed solely by Brian Loughnane, I couldn’t help thinking of Bert’s one man band in Mary Poppins. Loughnane smoothly transitions between the different characters, playing each with a practiced skill and overall producing a solid, heartfelt and consistently humourous piece of work.
