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Night six of Newry Drama Festival last night, 29 March saw Balally Players present David Ireland's 'Ulster American'.
Festival Adjudicator Geoff O’Keeffe,in his opening, remarked how David Ireland, the award winning Irish playwright, garnered a reputation for creating hard hitting and provocative work. Some of his other work includes “Cyprus Ave”,”The End of Hope” and “ Everything Between Us”. His play “Ulster American” first played at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2018 to great acclaim before receiving a star studded production in London’s Riverside Studios in 2023.
He described this play as a “biting social satire which explores misogyny, sexual violence and female agency in the entertainment industry”. The play challenges the company to razor sharp dialogue and to revel in the pitch black comedy. He commented that the production “must bring us three distinct characters, create tensions and fine shifts in gear. It must make us uncomfortable as we laugh and they must challenge us”
He felt the set felt “right for the work”… it felt “like a space that you would live in, very well conceived” with lots of texture and tone. It was complemented by the lighting and by a strong sound design which brought energy. The sound effects, doorbell, phone etc worked very well. Costuming also complemented, giving a good sense of the characters and he noticed the subtlety of the colours of respective flags being brought out in the garments.
The production, led by Declan Rudden worked with three really really strong actors. The roles were played with conviction, truth and great integrity. He felt the two men, Jay and Leigh,were excellent foils for each other and the relationship worked really well. With Leigh and Ruth, we understood they had a friendship, he felt the scenes were shaped very effectively. There was always “a drive in them, there was always an energy in them” There was a sense of why these people moved round the stage, there was purpose. They played off each other really well. An aspect he felt which was really important at this festival was “the absolute necessity to feel that lines are being said for the first time, that was absolutely on display tonight” There was so much going on that worked extremely well. “They shaped the story, they played with each other, they listened to each other and they created really strong characterisations. This was very very good work, shaped really well by the director”.
Kevin Stanton who played Jay, Mr O’Keefe felt that the actor brought “wonderful energy, drive a sense of self in this characterisation ,thoroughly engaging, in the moment, this was a really well judged performance”
Kevin Fahey, who played Leigh, Mr O’Keeffe felt this was a lovely foil to Jay. “He found so much comedy in the script and played it expertly, another really well constructed performance”
Finally, Aisling Finn, who played Ruth, Mr O’Keeffe felt had a great sense of integrity in this characterisation. “ It was detailed, nuanced work which was so satisfying to watch”
So overall, Mr O’Keeffe concluded “ Balally players brought us a unified presentation. All areas of the design served the play so well. They were designed and executed to a very high standard.The director and his cast brought us three very strong characterisations. They found humour, they honoured the razor sharp dialogue and they brought us a thoroughly engaging production that was very strong on all levels”.
