A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man – New Theatre – Review by P McGovern

Jun 6th – Jun 15th @ 7.30pm – Tickets: €16 (€12.50 conc.)

Translating fiction to stage or screen can often miss the core of the original. Detail of theme and development of character can be lost in the need to squeeze, prune and reshape. However, this adaptation by Tony Chesterman extracts the essence of Joyce’s novel and Jimmy Fay’s intelligent, economical and imaginative direction brings it brilliantly to life. Act l takes us from Stephen’s birth through his early childhood while Act ll focuses on his Clongowes days, his struggles with normal sexual impulses, his developing intellectual curiosity and, above all, the forging in the “smithy of his soul”… the contrarian, independent thinking and acting that marked him apart in the Ireland of his time and made it inevitable that he would leave Ireland so as to “fly by the nets“ of home, nationality and religion.

The production is marked by a rare clarity of purpose for which adaptor and director share the credit.  They are supported by a versatile and talented team of actors playing a multiplicity of roles. Sam McGovern narrates the text, occasionally commenting almost in the fashion of a Greek chorus, as well as playing Mrs Dedalus and Uncle Charles. Vocally and dramatically he is the perfect anchorman. Speaking of vocal perfection, Charlie Hughes is outstanding, initially was Mr Dedalus, with understated Cork tones, then as the preacher in the central, extended scene of the Clongowes retreat. From riveting whispers to thundering dramatic howls, with the well-rehearsed oratorical skills of a Jesuit, he is enough (almost) to steer any young 16-year old away from the sins of the flesh. It is as if the part was written for him although here, as elsewhere, Chesterman trusts the original text. Less satisfactory vocally is Lauren Farrell’s Stephen. Her vocal limitation is given particular point in the scene between Stephen and the English Dean of Studies, where the “two different languages” of Ireland and England are discussed. The distinctly contemporary accent of polite middle class South Dublinese, with its strangled and inserted half vowels jar in the Dublin of a hundred years ago. The hayse of squalor, a drink of wawsher, either/ore, neither/nore, araynd and abayt… Surely this recurring problem in Irish theatre can be ironed out in drama school?  Farrell is not helped by the fact that she is a young woman playing an adolescent boy and when her hair hangs loose as in the temptation scene it distracts even more than elsewhere. This is a casting issue, not a criticism of the actor whose brilliant athletic movement contributes so effectively in other scenes. Patrick O’Donnell ranges effortlessly from Mr Casey to a priest, to a particularly sleazy tart in Nighttown. Oh, and a devil. Katie O’Kelly plays a multiplicity of roles, male and female, sacred and profane, convincing in each, though her Dante Riordan in the wonderful Christmas dinner scene could do with a little of the variation in body language and inflection which she freely displays later.

On a relatively small stage of the New Theatre, cast, director and crew (helped by Orla Reynolds’s fine, serviceable set design) make Joyce’s novel instantly accessible even to anyone who has never read the original. Those who have read it will be encouraged to do so again – a considerable achievement for any production. Forget about the sunny weather: don’t miss it.

Director Jimmy Fay
Adapted by Tony Chesterman
Produced by Anthony Fox

Cast
Lauren Farrell
Charlie Hughes
Sam McGovern
Katie O’Kelly
Patrick O’Donnell

Assistant Director – Leah Minto
Set Design – Orla Reynolds
Lighting Design – Cathy O’Carroll
Costume Design – Jessica Dunne
Sound – Shane Fitzmaurice
Film – Neil O’Driscoll
Stage Managers – Lisa Krugel, Nell Conneally, & Cathy O’Carroll
Set Construction – Anthony Fox & Mark Smith