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The Spinning Heart
Smock Alley Theatre
23-28 January

You can think of The Spinning Heart as a one-man show – except with 24 characters played by 12 talented actors. The story unfolds through individual narratives as each character tells their part of the story in turn.  The Spinning Heart’s unusual format is carried over from the novel by Donal Ryan, in which each chapter features the first-person perspective of a different inhabitant of the small town that provides the setting. As the plot becomes tenser and grittier in the second act, the audience grows desperate to hear certain characters speak again; waiting for them to dispel rumours and illuminate clouded waters. However, these characters remain silent, and the story is left in the hands of friends, neighbours and family to piece the narrative together. In a play focused on community and interdependency, it makes for an extremely effective storytelling technique.

The play begins reasonably light-hearted as the audience laughs at the protagonist, Bobby, complaining about his ageing father. However, as the story progresses, it subtly weaves in a darker undertone, one that reflects the state of Irish society. We delve into a range of issues that permeate modern life: unemployment, religion, emigration, family, and particularly mental health (“I’ll be grand in a while” is perhaps the most poignant and representative line in the script). What stands out about how the show tackles these issues is that they almost don’t stand out at all. The play doesn’t take a moralistic or educational approach, but simply portrays the daily dilemmas of Irish life with raw, unfiltered honesty.

The set is minimalistic, with the sense of place and time effortlessly established by the characters’ stories and attitudes, not to mention the array of rural-Irish accents captured skilfully by the cast.  Killian Coyle, graduate of the Gaiety School of Acting, gives a stellar performance as protagonist Bobby Mahon. His acute portrayal of a redundant builder struggling under the pressure to earn a living and feeling locked inside his own head, unable to express his emotions, constructs what becomes a recurring theme throughout the play – the crippling impact of toxic masculinity. The Spinning Heart explores society’s demand on men to appear strong and withhold emotion in a nuanced and intriguing manner.

Other characters include an excitable but lonely single mother, a young lesbian, an insightful Eastern-European immigrant, and a toddler.  Certain characters occasionally feel caricature-ish when first introduced. However, skilful writing and keen performances ensure that each quickly escapes restrictive tropes and flourishes as a unique character in their own right.

The Spinning Heart is a play of love and loss, and above all, community.  With its relatable characters, immersive plot and excellent acting, this enticing play certainly has that special something one goes to the theatre in search of.

Photographs courtesy of Tom Maher Multimedia