McKenna’s Fort by Arnold Thomas Fanning – New Theatre – Review

Mar 21st – Apr 2nd @ 7.30pm – Tickets: €16 (€12.50 conc.)

Casement is waiting for his friends to return. He is resting in a fort near Tralee Bay, County Kerry after travelling by submarine from Germany. He was on a mission to get ammunition to aid in the Rising but he has failed and returned empty handed. We join Casement alone in the hours before dawn, haunted by images form his past. Little does he know that these are the last few hours he will spend as a free man.

Casement is one of the most complex and fascinating individuals involved in the Rising. Born to an Anglo-Irish family, he spent his early years in Dublin before moving to England and then Antrim. As an adult, he worked in the Congo and Peru. In 1911, he received a knighthood for his efforts on behalf of the Amazonian Indians. Several years later he became involved with the Republican movement in Ireland, which eventually lead to his imprisonment. It was at this point the Black diaries were discovered, which were candid accounts of Casement’s liaisons with young men. He was eventually executed for the crime of treason. It is a complex life to summarise in a few lines and any play would struggle to capture this unique individual. The play does not tell the story in a linear fashion, but instead jumps unpredictably between different points in his life.

Michael Bates plays Casement in this one man show and gives an impressive and assured performance. The play is told from Casement’s perspective, as he relates incidents and aspects of his life. Some of these stories are relatively small in scope, while others show him as a courageous man fighting against the governing powers who aim to keep the natives servile. It does not hide from his sexuality and there are some quite graphic scenes as he tells of his jaunts with a succession of young men. The surprising thing about the play is how small the Republican side of the story is. It is treated as just another aspect of the tale and not the centrepiece.

The play aims to give a flavour of the man, moving between the defining elements of his personality. As such, it would probably help if the viewer knew the basics of his life, as without them you would struggle to follow the stream of consciousness approach to story telling it provides. It is quite serious in tone with few moments of levity. Bates is a perfect choice for the role and it is a part that allows him to show his considerable talents. It is very demanding to hold the attention of the audience for ninety minutes but he doesn’t let the story flag and keeps the momentum throughout.

Directed by Paul Kennedy

Featuring Michael Bates as Roger Casement