Making a Show of Myself – Smock Alley – Review
by Frank L.

Making a Show of Myself –  Written and Performed by Mary Kate O’Flanagan
Directed by Will O’Connell

Until 2nd of December at 8pm

The brief programme note states “An Irish raconteur shares the tales … of her life …”  while a quotation from Liz Nugent, the author, states “Mary Kate can grip an audience and hold us in the palm of her gentle hand. She entertains us with her gifted storytelling…”. The total words of those two quotations comprise less than one hundred words but they contain the essence of this seventy-minute enchanting performance by Mary Kate O’Flanagan. The only other piece of substantive information the note contains is that the performance is directed by Will O’Connell. There is no set, the stage of the Boys’ School in Smock Alley Theatre is entirely empty, not even a chair in which to sit to tell her stories.

Mary Kate arrives on stage, wearing a loose-fitting olive green dress and a pair of runners. She dresses for comfort. Some might say her hair is all over the place but it is reassuring. On the other hand, some might say Mary Kate is making a show of herself with her unruly hair. Choose what you will. It all matters not a jot as Mary Kate is about to entertain the audience with six heart-warming stories which emanate from her life. Before she begins her first story she gives a brief summary as to what is the essence of storytelling and the historical reasons why she considers the Irish are so good at it. She certainly is.

She then tells a self-effacing story which is vaguely connected to Valentine’s Day where a young man with a gift for saying the wrong thing has an opportunity to show his talent. To quote Liz Nugent she has the audience “in the palm of her hand”. As the applause rings out she gives an understated little curtsy. She then explains that is the format for the evening that we, the audience, may applaud at the end of each story and she will give a little curtsy and she repeats the simple gesture.

Mary Kate is one of six sisters and they collectively are her “tribe” to quote a word she uses more than once. We hear about this group of powerful women and their upbringing by a particularly revered father to whom she attributes her self-confidence to enable her “to make a show of” herself.  Her “tribe” is not an exclusive body; it is open to be joined by individuals whom she encounters in her life who are of a generous spirit like herself. It is this generosity of spirit which makes Mary Kate’s performance so enchanting. It is life-affirming and stands in stark contrast to the hate-filled diatribes of social media. It is enhanced by her acute observation and her knowing self-mockery, and what a delight she is.

Mary Kate O’Flanagan has perfected the art of storytelling. She is an entertainer of the first rank and it is a privilege for the audience that she is prepared so generously to make a show of herself with the telling of her six insightful stories.