The Seamster’s Daughter, a new drama written and directed by Jimmy Murphy, ran at the Smock Alley Theatre Boys’ School from 16th April – 4th May. Megan (Aoife O’Sullivan) is the product of her mother (Rachel Pilkington) Alison’s rape twenty years previously, and both now live with “Nan” (Úna Crawford O’Brien) in a modest Dublin city home. Shortly before she is due to move to New York, Megan discovers the story of her conception, and pledges to confront her biological father (Michael Ford-Fitzgerald). Murphy, a member of Aosdána, is known for writing the successful play Brothers of the Brush and What’s Left of the Flag.
Most of the play’s action takes place in the back garden of the house the three generations of the family share, and Murphy successfully evokes the precious, melancholy feeling of the dwindling Irish summer as Alison and her mother bicker and comfort each other about Megan’s impending departure. O’Brien, who will be familiar to Irish audiences from her role as Renee Phelan from RTÉ’s Fair City, is the most convincing of the actors in this highly naturalistic piece.
Frustratingly, the already limited Boys’ School stage was cluttered with huge pieces of garden furniture and even an unnecessary garden fence, which forced the actors to move around each other extremely awkwardly. The seamster’s premises share the stage and, though with the help of some clever lighting there are some satisfying moments of counterpointing, due to the inefficiencies in the use of space, what should be the dramatic highpoints of the play between Megan and her father are instead bizarre cubicle encounters that deliver little emotional punch.
Murphy should be given credit for trying to bring what is topical and important material to the stage. This is a story already firmly lodged in the public consciousness, however, and the play’s central questions around guilt, forgiveness and identity are not explored in any new or interesting ways, or even particularly lyrically. The play’s unoriginality is painfully exacerbated by its inordinate runtime (almost three hours) as the characters move through predictable arcs at a glacial pace.
A story like this, the essence of which we have all heard many times before, can of course be compelling and thought-provoking. Because it is so familiar however, the writer can rely on the audience’s foreknowledge and a savvy editor could cut two thirds from the script’s unnecessary length. There is a stirring emotional core to this play but it is buried among mounds of superfluous exposition and thereby rendered ineffective. The performances struggle to keep the audience engaged as the tone of the dialogue varies little throughout. The play strives for naturalism but feels trapped in its own seriousness; characters lose credibility because they are seen in only one emotional state throughout. Some lighter moments and a greater variation of tone would not only make the play feel more realistic – they would enable its ‘serious’ moments to register more effectively.
A leitmotif of the play is Alison’s newfound fascination with the bird’s nest in the garden, as she struggles to deal with her own daughter’s impending departure. This in turn is suitably representative of a frustratingly straightforward and unoriginal take on well-worn material. Other productions have been more successful in rendering essentially the same material.
