WORDS Heather Keane

The Abbey Theatre’s new season shall be under fierce scrutiny following reports that have shaken the country’s faith in the recipient of over half of all Ireland’s Arts Council funding. The national theatre has opened this Spring with a revival of John B. Keane’s famed Sive, written in 1959 and offering a bunch of thoroughly Irish themes. While Fiach Mac Conghail’s selection here applies to the national appeal that is demanded of the theatre, its “world-class status” will not be much bolstered by this production.

Keane’s play follows the lives of a family thrown together by tragedy: Mena has been married to Mike out of poverty and desperation. Mike’s adopted illegitimate niece has suffered under Mena’s contempt since coming into the Glavin household after her mother’s death. Sive’s plight is accelerated by the interference of Thomasheen Seán Rua, looking to marry off the eighteen-year-old to the wealthy but decrepit Seán Dóta for the financial gain of Mena and himself. This business deal will drive the youngster to take her own life, but the emotional climax is left somewhat unbelievable after Róisín O’Neill’s performance which tends toward melodrama, moaning her lines out in a single breath to portray a naive and unlikeable teen.

Conall Morrison’s direction thankfully does not focus on the namesake of the play, and the central character’s spot is stolen by Derbhle Crotty’s stellar performance as Mena. The sexual frustration of a wife surrounded by stifling in-laws is an electric current on the stage. Mena is desperate for a chance at a physical relationship with her husband that has long been denied by the imposing presence of her agitating mother-in-law and the care of the tragic orphan. Her motives in the marriage are more than monetary, and this anguish is subtly drawn out by Crotty’s intense and unerring performance.

Crotty’s brilliance is unfortunately not always allowed to shine as she is more often seen scheming with Thomasheen than battling with her family. Simon O’Gorman’s performance of the lonely matchmaker is delivered with vehemence, but a vehemence which remains static from opening scene to last. From the first mention of the match, he is shouting and spitting in a frantic despair — his payment for the coupling will finally offer him a chance at a marriage — but his force unexplainably stagnates while the pressure rises.

The production’s saving grace comes in the hilarious character of Seán Dóta, whom the text regrettably does not allow much stage time. Daniel Reardon doesn’t waste a second, at any moment either puckering wrinkled lips to fuddled perfection or widening his pair of drooping doe eyes to consistently present a harmless yet terrifying old bachelor that you’d hate to find yourself stuck beside in a pub.

Reardon’s and Crotty’s excellence along with strong performances from Barry Barnes as Mike and Bríd Ní Neachtain as his mother are sadly not enough to leave an audience wholly satisfied. Those who are drawn by the distinguished playwright may not regret going along to see this production, but in such a trying time for the national theatre, the Abbey needs to give more than this.

Sive runs at the Abbey Theatre until 12 April.