Tape – Smock Alley – Review – 6 + 7 Dec | 8pm | Boys School

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Directed by Rob McFeely

We meet Vince in his motel room. His clothes are scattered around the floor and he is drinking heavily. We hear a knock at the door and it is Jon, his old school friend. Vince is visiting this town due to a film festival which is taking place.  There is a screening of Jon’s debut feature film. It’s an independent release about a robbery.  While Jon seems to have done well in life, it is quite another story with Vince.  He is working as a volunteer fire fighter and making his money by dealing drugs on the side.  After the initial greetings between the two school friends, they settle in to talk about their lives.  It becomes clear that despite their outward displays of affection, there are more than a few grievances that need to be sorted.

This is a play written by American playwright Stephen Belber.  Belber is probably best known for the film Management (2008), which he wrote and directed, and starred Woody Harrelson and Jeniffer Aniston. His plays have been produced on Broadway and in over 50 countries worldwide. Tape is one of his first plays and was written in the year 2,000.  It was later converted into a film by Richard Linklater, which starred Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman.

All the action takes place in an unusual representation of a motel bedroom. There is a bed in one corner and a table in another.  There are two doors, one to the bathroom and the other to the outside world.  The unusual aspect is that while the walls are hinted at, they are stripped back to reveal the pipes and timber battens underneath.  It is a simple but eye catching representation of the tawdry world of a motel room.

There are three actors on stage at different times, with Jarlath Tivnan as Jon, Peter Shine as Vince and Eilish McCarthy as Amy.  Those that saw Pleasure Ground last year (also in Smock Alley) will be familiar with all three, as they also appeared in that production.  While the actors may not be perfect for their parts, they do an impressive job and really throw themselves into the roles.

This is another production by Fregoli Theatre company.  The Galway based theatre company was formed in 2007 and have had 21 productions to date. Pleasure Ground was one of our theatre highlights of last year and this is another strong production.  The three actors have impressive chemistry on stage together, bouncing off each other with exact timing.  The play twists and turns and never lets you know precisely what is happening or who to feel sorry for. They are all flawed characters and this production lets you see a variety of perspectives.
Fregoli are a young theatre company that are worth following as they rarely disappoint.