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Bewleys Cafe Theatre @ Powerscourt

If the short story is the “highwire act of literature” (as Richard Ford said), then the one woman show The Humours of Bandon must be the dramaturgical version of juggling spinning plates – such is the myriad of characters conveyed by actress Margaret McAuliffe. This show was a Fringe Festival winner in the “Little Gem” category, and it is currently touring Ireland. It has been greeted by critical acclaim everywhere it has gone, and it isn’t hard to see why.

The protagonist is a young girl named Annie who yearns to be an Irish dancing champion. To achieve her goal she must get around a number of common obstacles; namely her own pangs of insecurity and the over zealousness of her dancing instructor. Like many good homegrown memoirs, the focus is not the narrative details (in this case the dancing) but rather the trauma and humour of the Irish childhood.

It’s the intense balance of drama and dance, sugar-coated with humour, that is so impressive. At times McAuliffe reminded me of a young Pauline McGlynn, with her comic asides that satirised the mannerisms of the Irish and the competitiveness of the Irish dancing world. Her performance is a strikingly honest and funny tour de force that completely carries the production. If the play does tour abroad, it certainly has the ingredients to be successful in its “Irishness”, but the jokes are so domestic that one would worry its best features might get lost in translation.

The cynic may say that the play is too exuberant, but to that I would say bah humbug. It’s the intense balance of drama and dance, sugar-coated with humour, that is so impressive. The ending, essentially a charged piece of dance, is both comic and redemptive and points to McAuliffe as a writer that has a strong grasp on the dramatic.

You should see this play.

Humours of Bandon will be playing at:
8pm, 29 March: Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar
8pm, 30 March: An Grianán, Letterkenny
25-30 July: West Cork Fit-Up Festival
8pm, 8 September: Belltable, Limerick
8pm, 9 September: Town Hall Theatre, Galway