Emerald Germs – review

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Livin’ Dred Theatre Company’s production of Emerald Germs should come with a disclaimer: they really ought to be truthful and confess that, in all likelihood, your face will ache from smiling too much. Under the direction of Padraic McIntyre, Pat McCabe’s hilarious play takes camp and farce to a level of perfection.

Centering around the telling of poor Pat McNab and his mother issues, Emerald Germs is the tale of a confused soul torn between boyhood and manhood, trying desperately to overcome “the shite incident”. Sound heavy? It’s delightful. Director McIntyre and Aaron Monaghan are the brilliant stars of the show — going in and out of various personas in a second. Monaghan in particular is stunning in his effortless character variety, including a bow-legged cowboy and grass-skirted Tonga islander, among many others. Both actors have gorgeous comic timing and the resulting performance is a mixture of Monty Python, the Carol Burnett Show, and The Muppets.

Equal to the actors’ talent is that of the production team; Cormac Carroll’s faultless sound design and Barry McKinney’s lighting manages to take the audience from something between a 1960’s British spy film to a lazy country fair with ease, giving a cinematic effect. Micky McGuirk’s set was another character in itself — the walls are pinned with Batman and Rolling Stones cutouts, vintage Guinness ads, and not one but two Abbey Road photos. Sock monkeys, empty wine bottles, and a very suspicious row of toy sheep lie under framed pictures of the Holy Mother and Bruce Lee; and, before the show even starts, a loop of Psycho and Love Story clips plays on the TV in Pat’s room. Helen Foy deserves a nod for costume design as well, with some ingenious and impressive three-second wardrobe changes.

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