A tragicomedy musical based on a graphic novel and memoir by Alison Bechdel, Fun Home fuses genres seamlessly to provide a piece of theatre unlike any other. Running at The Gate Theatre and directed by the theatre’s Artistic Director, Roisin Mc Brinn, this production is yet another example of what Irish theatre is capable of when we take on modern stories that steer away from our typical productions usually involving Irish family wars, a funeral and a pub. This is not to say that those stories are not important, however, The Gate Theatre’s successful new direction under Mc Brinn has highlighted that there are other stories worth telling to Irish audiences.
Take Alison’s story: a lesbian cartoonist from Pennsylvania sketching her life and recovering memories from her childhood and adolescence as one of three siblings living in a funeral home. The play begins with Alison, played by Frances Mc Namee, remembering a demanding version of herself as a child desperately trying to make her father, Bruce Allen, play aeroplane. Her father, played by Killian Donnelly, is an english teacher, home doer-upper and owner of a funeral home – as well as a closeted gay man, paedophile and abusive parent and partner. Once again fusing genres, Fun Home manages to articulate this complex story with ease. Alison literally watches her childhood self, played by Chloe Cody on the performance I attended, as she experiences the trials and tribulations of her father’s behaviour alongside her two younger brothers, John (Trystan Rhys Bruen) and Christian (Ethan O’ Connor) as well as her mother Helen, played by Nichola Mac Evilly: a retired actress with a theatrical flair and a strict tone reserved for her children to upkeep the demands of her husband’s rules.
Once again fusing genres, Fun Home manages to articulate this complex story with ease.
A story that carries such controversial complexities could have run into trouble if not handled correctly. A particular challenge lies in Bruce’s character as a man who is both an amazing father as well as a terrible one. Bruce could easily have become a villainous character, however, his behaviour, although terrible, is comprehensible and his motives are clear. Despite becoming increasingly harmful as the play progresses, there are many moments of real love shared between himself and all three versions of Alison. This focuses the story on the reality of this broken household as one worth saving so that despite being informed of Bruce’s destiny early on in the production, audiences are kept on the edge of their seats in hopeful denial of a happy ending.
What impressed me the most about this production was the engagement between all three Alison characters. Alison, Medium Alison and Small Alison varied significantly in many ways but each bore whispers of the same soul as the character developed and found her bearings in the world. I was particularly fond of the character of Medium Alison, played by Orla Scally. In a review for WhatsOnStage (which you can read here here ) Alan Hood suggested that this was the ‘least difficult’ of the three Alison’s to play and I couldn’t disagree more. Medium Alison has the toughest job of aligning who she was as a child with who she has become as an adult. Scally balanced the unsurety and defiance of a teenager entering college, discovering she is gay and becoming an adult wonderfully, providing moments of hilarity and heartache in equal measure – so much so that there were many times when I expected to laugh and ended up crying instead.
Alison, Medium Alison and Small Alison varied significantly in many ways but each bore whispers of the same soul as the character developed and found her bearings in the world.
Small Alison did an amazing job showcasing the defiance and toughness in her character that allowed her to endure all the trauma that she faced as a child, while Alison brought the audience through the motions of this struggle without ever leaving the stage. Even in moments where she watched from the background, Mc Namee held a calm and assured stage presence that made it feel completely natural to watch two versions of the same person sharing the same space in real time. I particularly enjoyed watching Alison cringe desperately at some of Medium Alison’s awkward moments and found it incredibly moving to see Alison watch her younger self be mishandled by her father’s demands too.
Considering The Gate Theatre’s intimate auditorium, I was surprised at how well the musical genre fitted into the space. The range of vocals throughout the cast was a joy to experience in one production: from Mc Namee’s folk-like tone, Mac Evilly’s powerful vibrato and of course, Killian Donnelly’s breathtaking voice that has adorned both Les Miserable and Phantom of the Opera in the West End. If anything, the opportunity to hear Donnelly perform live and up close is reason enough to see this production. The talent of the younger actors brought a welcome joyful energy to the production. Trystan Rhys Bruen, current pupil of the Billie Barry Stage School, particularly shone in his astounding dance and musical ability during the number ‘Come to the Fun Home’, while the playfulness between Christian and Bruen as brothers provided an endearing dynamic to witness on stage.
The play’s engagement with sexuality, harassment and mental health enforces the importance of discussing current issues that hopefully can elicit change in our society
Fun Home defies the bounds of Irish theatre and its success reminds Irish audiences that we can relate to and be impacted by stories from foreign shores. The Irish talent within the cast highlights our capabilities to express these stories to the highest degree, while the play’s engagement with sexuality, harassment and mental health enforces the importance of discussing current issues that hopefully can elicit change in our society. The Gate Theatre often attracts middle-class, middle-aged audiences who bear significant influence in our political and cultural climate and I applaud Mc Brinn’s decision to tell modern stories that speak to the lives of younger and older generations alike. Every so often there is a rare moment of perfect balance when we soar together, and Fun Home was one of these perfect moments.
WORDS: Amy Callery
