Saints & Sinners – New Theatre – Review

Jun 8th – Jun 20th @ 7.30pm

Saints & Sinners is a collection of three short plays by W. B. Yeats. The first of the three is The Pot of Broth in which a quick witted beggar tricks a couple into thinking he has a magic stone to fool them out of their dinner. The second of the three is An Cat agus an Ghealach, an Irish language version of the Cat and the Moon, which was translated by Gabriel Rosenstock. It tells of two beggar men who travel to the well of St. Colman seeking a cure for their ailments. The third of the plays is Purgatory, a sinister tale of a man who travels back to his childhood home which has since fallen to ruin to see the ghosts of his parents.

W.B. Yeats was born 150 years ago next Saturday (13th of June) and this production aims to look at his often forgotten work as a playwright. While there is no doubt that Yeats was a far superior poet than he was a playwright, occasions such as these allow us to see more of the man than his poetry alone would allow. The three short plays are fables, simple moral tales that have a number of laughs along the way, without any huge depth or insight.  The Irish language play An Cat agus an Ghealach was beyond my ability as gaeilge, and some sub titles would have helped, but they do have a brief synopsis in the programme for those that struggle.

Mouth on Fire make the most out of these stories with some fine acting and high production values. The three plays share a number of the actors, but it is unusual to see seven cast members on such a small stage. The set by Zia Holly works well and adapts to all three story lines with minimal transition. Macdara Yeates remains on stage for all three productions and plays drums and other sound affects which adds to the tension. At just under an hour, this production does not over stay its welcome and gives a good insight into the stage work of Ireland’s finest poet.

Directed by Cathal Quinn
Produced by Melissa Nolan

Cast: Rory Corcoran, Donncha Crowley, Neill Fleming, Macdara Ó Fátharta, Micheál Ó Gruagáin, Deborah Wiseman, Macdara Yeates.

Set & Lighting Design: Zia Holly
Music Composer: Macdara Yeates
Costume: Rowena Cunningham
Stage Management: Paul Doran