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

GRACE by James Joyce
Dec 4th – 23rd, 2023 At 1pm

“Grace” is one of the short stories which appears in “Dubliners”, James Joyce’s esteemed collection first published in 1914. The action occurs primarily in three locations – a pub, a bedroom and a church. There are a multiplicity of individuals who appear in the story but the principal character is one Tom Kernan who in a pub at the foot of the stairs “must have missed his footing” and fell. From that event, the story flows. Terry O’Neill undertakes the challenging task of bringing the characters to life, all the while staying faithful to Joyce’s text. This is not an adaptation of the short story for the stage it is closer to an animated recitation.

O’Neill is a young man in his early thirties. All the characters he has to depict are all substantially older than himself other than a cyclist and a constable who have only small parts. There is one female character namely the long-suffering Mrs. Kernan. While he tells the story, he has to bring, by tone of voice and movement, the various characters into three-dimensional life to elevate the performance above that of a straightforward reading. This is a substantial challenge. To create an authentic atmosphere throughout he is dressed in an Edwardian suit, occasionally dons a bowler and wears a stole when delivering a sermon in the church.

The set has three large stained windows which are easy to imagine in a late Victorian pub or church and one of which might form a window in a house in Glasnevin, where Mr. Kernan lives with his wife and children. There are five contemporary dining chairs in a half circle which are reconfigured into three rows as if they were pews in the church. The back wall is painted a forbidding dark green. When you arrive in the theatre the melodies of Thomas Moore are being sung which include “The Soldier Boy” and “The Last Rose of Summer”.  So the scene is well set to enter Joyce’s Edwardian world.

Everything is therefore dependent on the comparatively young O’Neill. He has ascended assuredly in his transformation from professional boxer to professional actor – no mean feat. Michael James Ford’s direction has to transform the text of the short story into a play. O’Neill brings considerable energy and skill as the narrator notwithstanding a couple of small stumbles over the text. What he cannot surmount is the problem that the text is a short story and not a play. However, O’Neill can be proud of his performance and has added another professional notch to his theatrical belt.

CAST AND CREW:

PERFORMED BY: Terry O’Neill
DIRECTOR BY Michael James Ford
SET DESIGN BY Sandra Butler
LIGHTING DESIGN: Colm Maher
IMAGE: from a painting by Aidan Hickey

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