In the Window – Bewley’s Cafe Theatre – Review
by Frank L.

In the Window – written and performed by Nuala McKeever
Dates: July 27th – August 15th

Margaret is a woman of a certain age who lives alone, having looked after her parents. There is no ‘significant other’ in her life, and she is lonely. She has made a big decision to end it all. We meet her as she prepares herself in the comfort of her living room to do the deed. She has Sinatra playing on the record player; she has dressed herself up as if she were going out. She has a bottle of wine at the ready, and she empties a mass of colourful pills into a glass bowl. She sits down to write a suicide note. But Margaret is a positive soul, and she finds humour as she tries to write the note. Her loneliness is interrupted by the arrival of a young burglar, Chris, who has come in through the kitchen window. Although the backdrop to McKeever’s story may be bleak, she imports so much humour, absurdity and skill into the telling of what happened on that memorable evening that the audience is transported into a world where laughter holds sway.

Margaret speaks with a gentle Northern Irish lilt. Chris has a clipped Belfast accent. But there are two more characters: Kate, a snoopy neighbour, with a Yorkshire accent and a handsome policeman with a Scottish accent. A story of some complexity emerges, but McKeever’s skills in speaking effortlessly in different accents ensure that all is easy to follow. Laughter predominates as McKeever mines the absurdity of the situation she has created.

In this revival of In the Window, first seen in Dublin in 2019, McKeever demonstrates once again what a great comic talent she is both as actor and writer. She performs at a helter-skelter pace and laughter predominates. It is a joy to be part of the audience as she tells Margaret’s story.