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Fool For Love
20 Nov 2003 - RTÉ Entertainment:
"RTE.ie Entertainment - REVIEWS - Fool For Love" (by James McMahon)
By Sam Shephard. Directed by Ronan Wilmot. With Sean Power, Laoisa Sexton, Ronan Wilmot & Patrick Joseph Byrnes. New Theatre until December 13.
Big Papa Theatre Company present Sam Shepherd's 1983 play of forbidden love set against a wasteland at the edge of the Mojave Desert. It is a gritty, if somewhat ambiguous tale of dysfunctional relationships, played out in a claustrophobic setting of a dingy motel room.
It is there where May (Laoisa Sexton) finds herself holed up waiting for her date to take her to the movies. However, the arrival of Eddie (Sean Power) her long time lover sets in train moments of much tension and potential full-blown violence between two people who conversely cannot live with - or without each other.
Eddie, a macho rodeo guy, who is prone to regular periods of absence, has travelled for nearly 3,000 miles to reclaim his sweetheart. While we are not sure about who deserted whom, we know that a burning passion underscores their relationship. It is not overtly shown and the hostile nature of things is further emphasised by the off-stage presence of a rich lady who has followed Eddie to this lonely spot to vent her anger at the way 'their fling' turned out.
However, the figure of an Old Man (Ronan Wilmot) apparently dreaming at the edge of the stage, changes the overall mood to one of poignancy. We learn that the old man in the rocking chair is Eddie's father and May's stepfather. His idea of love inexplicably crippled the lives of his women and is now doing the same to their respective children.
May's date, Martin (Patrick Joseph Byrnes) arrives to hear the circumstances of the blood union between the two lovers. A rather meek character, he is the perfect foil for Eddie to display his own brand of machismo behaviour. Yet there are no winners in Shepherd's text. Nothing is really resolved, in spite of the insatiable quest for the truth. The characters are essentially on a journey from one bad situation to the next.
Ronan Wilmot's solid, if somewhat less than compelling direction lends itself well to the confines of the New Theatre. Of the two central characters, Sean Power appeared more at ease with the accent and he managed to bring a visceral, animalistic feel to his character during the heated exchanges with May. Laoisa Sexton accent was a little off in the early exchanges, and despite being nothing less than alluring throughout, she never managed to convey the emotional trauma May must have felt as the apparent truths were revealed. The monologue she delivered at the end lacked conviction, and so lessened the dramatic impact.
Ronan Wilmot & Patrick Joseph Byrnes in the minor roles did what they had to do, with Byrnes bewildered facial expressions adding significantly more to a character, devoid of meaningful language. Chris Hoctor's musical accompaniment hauntingly conveyed the passing of time at the beginning and end of the play, while Victor Grennan's set design gave proceedings an acute sense of place.
James McMahon
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