GomBeam – Bewley’s Cafe Theatre – Review
by Frank L.

GomBean – written and performed by Niamh McGrath

BOOKING INFORMATION
June 21st (preview 19th, 20th) to July 8th, 2023
There will be an SOIRÉE SHOW at 7pm on June 29th, 2023.
Mon-Sat at 1pm (doors open at 12.50pm)

The set is the side of a horse box which has been converted into a portable coffee dock. It can be parked on the side of the road from which lattes, flat whites and the rest of the joys of coffee can be dispensed to passersby. The proprietor of this establishment is one Grace O’Malley, her initials are G.O.M., hence the witty title for her business. Grace from this vantage point on the side of the road is able to draw the audience into her eclectic world. Life has been a bit of a struggle for Grace from being jilted in love, an unlikely career as a wrestler, a little bit of a problem with the drink and a combative relationship with several members of her community. It certainly has not been mundane. She has also got financial problems. However, Grace is a fighter in more ways than one, and is well able to take on all comers and to reflect on her situation contemplatively in surprising ways.

McGrath portrays a myriad of local characters as they interact with Grace at her coffee dock. They are male and female, young and old. She also goes back in time and explains how she was jilted by her first lover. That failure on her part still rankles, but she reaches the pinnacle of her comic powers when she orders from Amazon a blow-up doll.  She intends to use it as her sparring partner in order to get her match fit for her intended return to the wrestling ring. Her skill in manipulating the doll was a delight to watch as she honed her skills.

Her observation of quirks is acute. For instance, the pomposity of the local big wig, as he introduced the two fighters, was suitably formal but knowingly shafted by McGrath when he interrupts his own speech in order to announce that car registration number blankety-blank needs to be moved as it is causing an obstruction. It is a common enough happening, knowingly observed and beautifully executed.

This is a concentrated hour of entertainment devised and performed by McGrath with wit and professionalism. The play was produced by The Hawkswell Theatre, Sligo where it premiered and is now on a national tour. Gombean appropriately is currently in Bewley’s Cafe Theatre at lunchtime and it is uplifting to enter the world of Grace O’Malley and her GomBean business.