Kate Moylan vs The World – Dublin Fringe Festival – Review
by Frank L

Kate Moylan vs The World – Written by Kate Moylan
Venue – Samuel Beckett Centre – DU Players Theatre
Duration – 70mins
PERFORMANCES:  8–9 Sep, 19:00

The set is a wrestling ring. The crowd is warmed up by MC John (John Spillane) and MC Stephen (Stephen Bradley). Kate Moylan, suitably attired in wrestling gear, duly appears and is interviewed by MC John, with MC Stephen fact-checking. She is 41 years old. We learn that, as a child, she was an attention seeker and lied about an illness in order to have keyhole surgery. The reason for her unusual behaviour was her sister Jenny. They did not get on. So into the ring comes Jenny. She and Kate wrestle using the ropes of the ring and its four posts for full effect. It is fast-moving, and it imitates what is to be seen on television.

Later, we learn Kate was bullied at school, and her tormentors then appear in the ring, and Kate takes them on and triumphs. As her life continues, a succession of characters cross her path who now encounter her in the ring, even a couple of bank managers who refused her a mortgage. The cast numbers 18. It ends with a terrific finale with all on stage. Given the space available and the size of the cast, it is throughout extraordinarily well choreographed.

The world of wrestling is an unusual backdrop to tell a life story, but Kate Moylan uses its possibilities to full effect. From the moment the show starts, it is all action. It is bawdy, irreverent and at times, some might say, of questionable taste. There is an awesome drag queen and a mother who is cast as both gender- and colour blind. But the magnificent tackiness of the wigs and costumes flaunted in a wrestling ring creates a world where anything is possible. Kate Moylan uses that fact to full effect as she takes on the world.

Supported by Fight Factory Pro Wrestling Ireland & DU Players Theatre. Developed at Stoke Improv.

Image Credit: Sean Branigan