Prickly – Mill Theatre – Review
by Frank L.

DLR Mill Theatre presents Prickly – A new play by Caoimhe O’Malley
Touring 30th January – 24th February 2024

O’Malley states in her programme note “Based on my own journey with anxiety and a mind that takes me places good and bad, it’s been hugely cathartic to put my thoughts on stage and see the response. Laughter is really the best recipe for our wildest worries”. In Prickly’s 80-minute duration, Shauna (Caoimhe O’Malley) and Peggy (Genevieve Hulme-Beauman) ensure its high-energy scamper has the audience happily laughing from the get-go.

The set is an elegant box with its sides cut away at 45 degrees. It is a visual symphony of muted greys and greens in which there is a single bed, three filing cabinets, an office table and two swivel white chairs.  On the back wall, there is a large picture window. Dotted around the room is a collection of cacti of various shapes and sizes and these are Shauna’s friends!

Shauna is dressed suitably as a smart, efficient office executive. Peggy is attired in a bilious green trouser suit and wears matching platform shoes.  The cacti are Shauna’s confidantes. Shauna’s job is stressful as she is Dublin’s best debt collector and to keep her anxieties at bay she chats with her cacti who each has a personality of its own. They help calm her. Now her best friend Peggy, in fact, her only friend, has just had a baby so her anxieties are further heightened. However, surprisingly on her debt collection round, she encounters a tenant (or rather she fails to encounter the tenant) which enables Shauna to develop the softer side of her personality.

O’Malley and Hulme-Beauman have a routine which in its physical speed and fast-moving banter is reminiscent of Laurel and Hardy. It is hard to keep up but their use of tables, chairs and cacti is so surprising that laughter is a constant. Even the filing cabinets have bizarre uses which creates even more laughter. This is comedy of a high order with Hulme-Beauman particularly impressive, with her small bodily gestures and perfect timing.

Maisie Lee’s direction is at such a fast clip it is at times a challenge to keep up. A great deal of skill and hard work has been employed to create this madcap show. It deserves to be seen in many venues around Ireland. All of the creatives involved in its production can take a big bow.

Creative Team

Written by: Caoimhe O’Malley
Starring: Caoimhe O’Malley and Genevieve Hulme Beaman
Director: Maisie Lee
Dramaturg: Pamela McQueen
Lighting Design: Zia Bergin-Holly-Holly
Sound Design: Fiona Sheil
Set & Costume Design: Ellen Kirk

Tour Details
Running time:  80 minutes with no interval.
Suitable for age 16+