Drainage Scheme – Dublin Fringe Festival – Review
by Frank L.

Drainage Scheme – written by Dick Walsh
Drainage Scheme – Noke Theatre
Co-Presented by the Abbey Theatre and Dublin Fringe Festival

Set in Kerry in the eighteenth century, the play centres on the Mahony family who exist in some remote part where the land is little more than bog. Their life is being transformed by the lord of the area’s proposal to introduce a drainage scheme. If the work is done on time there is a prospect of 33-year leases of parcels of land.

The lives of the community are being upended by the drainage scheme. The labour for the scheme is being provided by them and their neighbours with the prospect of obtaining leases of land when the drainage work is carried out but there are strict time limits. Even in those times, the forces of globalisation were taking place where a certain product was being produced efficiently and cheaply in one place and as a result that product was no longer produced elsewhere. This process creates benefits for some directly and many indirectly but great uncertainty and loss for those whose way of life is destroyed.

The set consists of two low horizontal structures of brieze blocks and some chairs, along with a set of drums and a large cymbal. In the cast, there are two musicians, a drummer and saxophonist, and seven actors which contain five members of the Mahony family. The principal ones are Polly (Billie Traynor) who is recently widowed, her son Mich (Timmy Creed) and her daughter Kate (Roxanna Nic Liam).

Mich sees the scheme as an opportunity to obtain a lease on a decent plot of land. Kate is more nuanced and she can see both the advantages and disadvantages while Polly is not above being secretive with her neighbours if it will bring to her family substantial advantage. So many of the issues that the members of the Mahony family face are similar to those faced by ordinary folk today which never-ending economic change brings.

Throughout the play as an actor speaks their words are accompanied by haunting notes from the saxophone or ominous sounds from the drums. They add poignancy to the words being spoken. The actors are dressed mostly in modern-day dress, well worn, with Polly wearing an off-white garb which suits a lady of mature years. Father Harrington (Shane Connolly) is dressed in an eclectic mixture of torn garments which highlights his outlaw status as a priest and a headdress which symbolises his authority within his community.

This is a thought-provoking play which keeps you engaged even if it somewhat loses momentum when Father Harrington first arrives. He is a disruptive force from the outside world. He brings concerns which move the narrative away from their primary concern of the drainage work, in accordance with a strict time limit. Walsh has created a play of depth which takes the concerns of 18th-century folk in rural Kerry with the globalisation of its time. It makes the audience realise that many of today’s concerns of 21st-century society over today’s globalisation are not new.

Writer and Director:  Dick Walsh
Composer/Musician:  Brian Walsh

Cast:
Polly Mahony: Billie Traynor
Darby Carthy: Donncha Crowley
Kate Mahony: Roxanna Nic Liam
Mich Mahony: Timmy Creed
Thady Mahony: Pat McGrath
Augusta Mahony: Ginna Alvarez
Fr. Harrington: Shane Connolly
Frank Mahony/Musician: Daniel Rorke

Concept Research: James Moran
Design: Aedin Cosgrove
Costume: Miriam Donahue
Dramaturg: Thomas Conway

Production Manager: Olivia Drennan
Stage Manager: Jasper Cahill
Producer: Gwen Van Spyk

Image: Jaesin Wu