Madeira: the Secret of Sisters – Viking Theatre – Review
by Frank L.

Madeira: the Secret of Sisters – written by Michael J. Harnett
Runs until Saturday 11 May 2024 @8pm

In the first scene, Angela (Geraldine Plunkett) and Betty (Deirdre Monaghan), unmarried, mature sisters, meet to have a cup of tea and some cake in a cafe which retains the air of old decency as there is still a waiter (James Brunty) to serve them. There is a gentility about the place. Their mother used to like its Madeira cake. They have a conversation which is both revelatory and frank, as it contains unsettling information. The second scene is in the same cafe sometime later on the same day, where Lu (Deirdre Monaghan) and Mona (Brenda Brooks), another couple of sisters, have a chat having escaped from their less than domestically competent families. Their mother used to clean for Angela’s family in the days long gone. The third scene takes place in that same house, where the two sisters are still living, with shades of old decency.

The set initially consists of a circular cafe table, a couple of bentwood chairs and as a backdrop; an elaborately carved wooden screen. For the third scene, it transforms itself with small adjustments to the study in Angela and Betty’s house.

The conversations between Angela and Betty make references to a more genteel Dublin past where dances took place in the Gresham Hotel and the demarcations between Protestants and Catholics were more clearly defined. Lu and Mona’s conversations are more earthy and the language is more robust. There is in their conversation little hankering for the past and what there is of a world where outward appearances were what mattered. The third scene where Mona visits Angela shows that even if their paths in life have been very different Angela and Mona have much in common.

This is a reflective probe into the two very different Dublin worlds of a couple of sisters even though they lived in the same vicinity. It allows you to reflect on the little and not-so-little things which are important in a person’s life, some of which leave an indelible mark. It is a gentle evening of theatre which makes its points quietly and without histrionics.

Madeira: the Secret of Sisters  – Written by Michael Harnett
Directed by Vinnie McCabe
Performed by Geraldine Plunkett, Deirdre Monaghan & Brenda Brooks