Once in a Lifetime – Dublin Fringe Festival – Review
Red Bear Company

PERFORMANCES – 9 – 11 September 21:00, €18/€16
Venue – Project Arts Centre – Space Upstairs
Duration – 70mins

This is the story of a modern Irish family. Ciara (Leah Moore) has two Mums. Her mother Lorraine (Georgina McKevitt) married Tanya ((Lynette Callaghan) several years after divorcing her father. They now live together in the family home which is receiving a makeover. The house is being renovated and is turning into something of a money pit. Ciara invites her school friend Sara (Deborah Dickenson) over to their home after school one day. The two young women arrive in the kitchen looking for an envelope, which they eventually find. They seem agitated and stressed about the contents of the envelope. They are then interrupted by the unexpected arrival of her mother Lorraine, and later Tanya. The couple were meant to be out for the evening, but their plans have been cancelled. This sets in motion an unexpected night, where Sara is their dinner guest, all the while several subplots bubble under the surface, waiting to explode!

This is a new work by playwright Tracy Martin, who is known for dealing head-on with a variety of hard-hitting issues in plays such as Wrapped, Harder Faster More and Coast. The play is directed by Dundalk-based theatre artist Una McKevitt (Singlehood and Madhouse along with many others).

The set is simple, as with most Fringe productions with the same space being used for another play several hours before. The device of setting the play in a building site allows the audience to fill in the blanks. There are the frames of several windows, along with rope and ladders, while also having some aspects of a working kitchen as the family lives amongst the chaos.

The play covers many themes, with each character having their own troubles. Lorraine (Georgina McKevitt) is heavily pregnant and works with a charity, which is rewarding but poorly paid. McKevitt’s physical acting as a heavily pregnant woman is perfect, so much so you can almost feel her back pain! Tanya (Lynette Callaghan) is a lawyer and the main breadwinner of the family, but she finds her work morally dubious and is desperate to escape in a different direction. Ciara (Leah Moore) is still just a child but has some very troubling problems to deal with, which she’s afraid to talk to her mother about. Sara (Deborah Dickenson) is the outsider at the dinner table, which allows the strained dynamic to take place. There are mentions of a strict mother and other elements of her backstory.

This work gives us a view of modern life. Most of the plot lines are left in some sense unresolved, which hints at the chaotic nature of life which engulfs us all. The writer Tracy Martin has given us a snapshot of this family, with the pressures on individuals young and old. It is unusual to have a light and comedic touch with a play that covers such complex themes, but the cast does well with all aspects of the story. The scenes of them joking and bickering at the kitchen table are very accomplished. At the end of the piece, you feel you know each of the individuals on stage and can see the world through their eyes, which is all any writer can hope for.

Cast: 
Lynette Callaghan, Deborah Dickenson, Georgina McKevitt and Leah Moore.

Image:
Louis Haugh