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Tuesday 22 March saw Newry's Newpoint Players perform Sean Treanor's Mary K on stage in a packed Newry Town Hall at Newry Drama Festival.
The Adjudicator Brian Marjoribanks was most impressed with the stage set as well as the music and the acting.
Newpoint Players present Mary K by Sean Treanor
Marjoribanks said "When I read through the script I thought it was a powerful play with very little humor in it. I was wrong about that, there was humour, nicely captured humor later on. By the end of Act One I could relax because of that. I liked the use of the Greek chorus which I felt underpinned the tragedy that they were unfolding here. But I read through it, I thought to myself, I see elements of Dylan Thomas with Under Milk Wood.
The adjudicator continued "Would they capture the changes of mood when James comes on. The role of Daniel I thought was an extremely demanding one, how would they cope with that? There are various death scenes. How would we the audience respond to the death scenes? There are 17 characters plus a chorus, miners and local people. It reminds me of watching Arthur Miller's The Crucible. By the time we get to the interval and there's only half a dozen characters on stage it is so enjoyable and you think this must win the festival, then you get into the second half and discover there are another 20 characters and I can visually see the producer going around the stage managers and the tea lady and saying to them, we need you on stage, and it tends to look like that. Tonight what a difference, the strength of acting, the strength of characters, it was a delight to actually see.
"To begin with the beginning. We discovered the lights coming up on the set here and I thought, wow, then I thought to myself, what a miserable lot you are. If ever a set demanded a round of applause!
"I talked last night about using every square inch here to give us visual variety. If you use rostrums on the set as well, you get visual variety in height as well as across the stage and I thought with the potential here, will they use it - of course they will use it. They used it enormously. The visual variety is lovely. Just looking at the stonework, the detail, the dressing of it, absolutely splendid set, I thoroughly enjoyed people just looking at it.
"Then we come on to the lighting of the production. I thought the back lighting was absolutely lovely. The way they changed colours and the colours added to the interpretation of the play. The spots that they used on the older Mary's face - That was absolutely lovely. They got it right every single time she was there and I liked that immensely. So many complex lighting cues in it and I thought they were effective and well done to the lighting crew for the way they brought that off.
Marjoribanks continued "Costumes wise, lots of grays in it conveying the period and conveying the element of doom that occurred right throughout the production. Sound wise we didn't get tapes coming on, we got everything live, it was a delight to listen to so well done sound wise as well.
"I thought the opening was absolutely stunning. The language, the Gaelic language coming through the choral singing was lovely. The faces of everyone on the set, they weren't just there to make up the numbers, they were communicating something to us right throughout it. It was picturesque at times. I love the groupings coming through and they projected out beautifully, and again, it wasn't just a little song, they were projecting to the back there. They were saying to the Adjudicator put your pen down and listen to us, it was rather nice.
"What did I like about the production. I thought the pace, the vocal orchestration, they captured the rhythm and the rhythm carried the story coming through. It was lovely to listen to and see. Whether it was only two people on stage at one time or a bigger group I thought that came across remarkably well. Some of the scenes were particularly nice. Mary and Daniel together were very very nice indeed. It was just so lovely to watch it, so touching at times, the way she treated him, never ever ever played down to him. He was her equal and it was lovely to watch that. Samuel's scenes I thought were good too, English voices coming in there and looking down on us as if lesser people, coming through.
"Mary I thought was absolutely lovely to listen to as well. Mary in the proposal scene. It was the first time we've got the lighter touch coming into it and the audience responded.
"Then that end of Act One the explosion and the visual effect that it had, the sound that came through with it too. You could hear a pin drop throughout that first half and I thought that reflected the success of the production. So yes, some very very touching moments. The drinking scene in Scene Two in the second act where they were actually miming it was so effective, we practically gave them a round of applause."
He added a few suggestions "I didn't like the dead Eoin walking off stage, it just seemed unnatural, maybe discuss alternatives to that. I've spoke on avoiding some of the characters being in the same line on stage, it's something I feel very strongly about. No two characters are of equal importance on stage, one is more important than the other and the upstage character becomes the more important one. So if you've got three people, put them into a triangle. Each of them on different levels and clearly it is picturesque and it focuses the attention of the audience on the apex of the triangle and that is the important character.
"The suffocating of the baby didn't come across to me! When I read the play that was the most powerful and most moving sequence of the play in the reading and it didn't really quite come off that way and I'd like to discuss it through. Bear in mind, I've read it, I've seen it a couple of hours this evening. The Producer who is producing a play knows it inside out it after weeks and weeks of rehearsing and given he also wrote it, he will know the play more than anyone.
The Characters
"Mary the younger ...Her facial expressions were extremely extremely good. She had a lovely singing voice when she had a singing cue.
"Mary the older as she told and related the story at the back there, she was vocally extremely mature and I thought she handled key words well. She obviously has an enjoyment of words, and she really dragged out the vowel sounds in them and we got them into performance and that was a delight to listen to.
"Daniel a lovely bright lively young man at the beginning and he projected extremely well, his movement was extremely stylish and then of course you had the incident when he was penalised and then the character that was superimposed on him was coming from inside, and coming out, so enjoyable to actually watch, that disabled element to him, a lovely contrast between the two.
"James a nasty piece of work. When asked to take command on stage he took over and did extremely well with it. I still felt there was an element of scope of development there because he was absolutely nasty and I didn't quite get the nastiness and I wanted to hit him, i wanted to beat him, I wanted to throw things at him. I didn't quite get that, but it was still a powerful performance.
"Eoin another lovely character, a lovely character study with the human touch in it as well. He got that element of likeness and I wanted to see and it reflected well, particularly at the start of Act Two.
"Philomena lovely contrasting in depth. Felt the eyes got too much black. Eyes are so important to see and absorb
"Samuel Wright I loved to see the pronunciation that created the social difference between him and the others, and it created an excellent character both in speech and in movement. He too was a nasty piece of work.
"Mrs Flynn another that gave the play a lift. When a new character comes on stage we should get a lift by it and Mrs Flynn did that.
"Michael while being indistinct at times while he was speaking, he still captured the character.
"Dr. Coates, I loved his costume, such a relaxed performance. He added the lighter touch which I think is essential at that stage of the play and then Tom Mooney yet again, give the play a lift when he came on with his entrance in the second act, it was lovely to see.
Summing Up
"So overall what did they achieve for me? I said to you it was an excellent read as a play, I thought it was also an extremely enjoyable stage presentation. Despite what I felt were room for improvements here and there, the grouping of characters to enhance the overall production.
"What an extraordinary live talented cast that made the most of a most enjoyable script. So thank you very much indeed to Newpoint Players for Mary K
