The Olive Tree – New Theatre – Review by Catherine Sanz

Written and performed by Katie O’Kelly

May 2nd – May 7th

Katie O’Kelly breaks down nearly seventy years of conflict between Israel and Palestine into one hour of childish fantasy at The New Theatre this week.

The Olive Tree, written and performed entirely by O’Kelly, tells the story of a naive Tesco worker who magically travels to the Middle East after ripping a “Boycott” sticker off a bottle of olive oil. To her surprise, the olive tree has now become a fairy godmother-type character who takes her on a tour through the disputed lands of past and present.

O’Kelly performs all the roles with a clean, clear, and sharp wit. Her energy from start to finish is contagious, and the writing is detailed and natural. Perhaps too natural, as all the people she meets on her journey talk like they’re from some pocket of inner city Dublin. These include characters like a glass blower named Salah, who witnessed the death of his brother during violent riots. Or the loud chewing camel, who lets O’Kelly experience the ruthless and degrading checkpoint searches.

The direction, by Davey Kelleher, is meticulously attentive and ensures that the show has grace and stamina. The set design, also by Kelleher, included a yellow brick road of “Boycott” stickers that glowed under the stage lights.

The script takes charged examples like orphaned children and bulldozed houses to present a very harrowing view of the situation. Unfortunately the situation is extremely harrowing, as the 6 o’clock news remind us. A map inside the programme shows how Palestine has been dwindled down over the years, from a large swath of land to tiny dotted pockets. Despite the heaviness of the material, O’Kelly imbues the script with a small but potent sense of hope.

So while the story reduces a very complicated issue into a digestible kids version, it still gives us a counter narrative that by its very existence is important. The concept could be fleshed out into a more dynamic structure, perhaps with multiple actors or at least a vernacular from outside the Greater Dublin area. But, as O’Kelly reminds us with a clever recycling of the Tesco slogan, “Every little helps.”