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Wishful Thinking by Shaunna Lee Lynch of  Strive Theatre, was a show about contemporary obsession for ‘positive thinking’, played out through the delicate medium of a grieving family. Siobhán, aged 28 returns home to Cork from London, having failed to get her big break after four years of striving for it. Bitey and cynical, her rejection has shattered her world-understanding of hard work resulting in success formula. Things back in Cork however, are apparently both zen and promising. Despite Aunt Judy’s recent death, her daughter Mags and sister (Siobhán’s mother) are guided by a new self-help book and are busy invoking good energies, saving up for more crystal cleanses, and “getting their power back”. They’re both convinced of the benefits, reaping the great material benefits of newly purchased Michael Kors handbags and Louboutin heels. After much protest and snide comment, Siobhán’s reservations sap for just enough time to let her give the new spiritual energies a suck. 

In the end the power of this ‘new age spirituality’ is revealed to be age-old flimflam and strength is only restored to the characters by the  establishment of good honest relations with the self. Judy’s death is no longer swept under the carpet, and thereby Siobhán confronts her guilt over selfishness, while Mags quits retail therapy. Common sense is restored to its rightful place as ‘best life policy’. 

A good moral ending isn’t necessarily dull. However, the play’s terrifyingly paced dialogue sometimes prevented it from reaching its full comic potential. Furthermore, wacky touches (like Mother buying Sheela na Gig to better spice her sex life, and a well-conveyed running theme of Irish skepticism of influencers) almost–but didn’t quite overcome the too shipshape, too predictable plot. As the general import of the play wasn’t a new one, it seemed like a missed opportunity not to explore in greater depth, either family relations, or of the politics of Siobhan’s situation. Her story, of a young person with a university degree no longer being able to find inspiring employment – having to settle for minimum wage work to pay rent – is the part of the story that was most compelling, but least explored. In the end, the three women’s gullible lure toward a magic fix for their lives, was written off as timeless greed, but in a world of rising inequality, perhaps this ‘timeless’ lure is or will be particularly attractive. I left the theatre reassured that common sense and family bonds are important, yet Siobhán’s bitterness never found a target and so my frustration with the system found no representation.