Bullied – Viking Theatre – Review
by Frank L

Bullied written by Michael J. Harnett
From Mon 7 Aug 2023 to Sat 19 Aug 2023

Anna (Aine Collier) finds herself staying with Granddad (Vinnie McCabe) as her parents are having a weekend break in some smart location in an attempt to improve their rocky relationship. There is a fifty-year-age gap between Anna and Granddad and so there is an inevitable disconnect in their repartee. However, Granddad is astute enough to notice that things are not adding up in relation to Anna and the texting she is doing on her phone. He is concerned. In addition, he too has problems with trying to keep things afloat following the death of his wife two years previously.

As Granddad probes the difficulties that Anna is facing at school he is faced with his own challenges in the form of a bureaucratic maze on the telephone as he seeks to make contact with his gas supplier. The gas supplier is threatening to cut him off. Trying to find a human to speak to who is able to help is an all too familiar phenomenon in everyday life now.

The action takes place in the living room of Granddad’s house. The set has a desk on one side and a small sofa on the other. On the walls are three paintings hung randomly. There is an old-fashioned record player to set the mood.

Collier is assured as she depicts Anna’s defensiveness in relation to her Granddad’s probing and his scepticism about her overall behaviour. McCabe has to tread a more tricky path of being a supportive grandfather but also being somewhat adrift in the age of new technology. He is also burdened with loneliness following the death of his wife. However, Harnett has littered the text with some comic one-liners as Granddad tries to make sense of what is surrounding him. But the primary theme is Anna and what is causing her distress.

It lasts about sixty minutes and it encompasses an increasingly destructive modern-day phenomenon, namely the use of social media to increase the nastiness of bullying. It is a topic that is increasingly toxic. Harnett is wise to highlight it and might consider creating a somewhat larger play which gives a greater insight into what drives this corrosive behaviour. It is a short play of some substance that will give the audience much to discuss afterwards.

A new play by Michael Harnett
Starring Vinnie McCabe and Áine Collier