Drama on keening – great concept not fully realised

REVIEW: GOL BRÚ THEATRE AT NUNS’ ISLAND

The Irish tradition of keening over the dead and the demise of this practice in the mid-20th century is the focus of Gol, the latest production from Brú Theatre, in conjunction with Galway Theatre Festival.

This exciting young company has brought a welcome breath of fresh air into Galway’s theatre scene, as it explores themes of identity and loss in new and refreshing ways. Its work variously involves music, dance, virtual reality, stylised design and frequent use of puppetry.

Music is central to Gol, which has an original instrumental score by Anna Mullarkey and vocal composition by Julianna Bloodgood who is also musical director and appears in the drama, which is set in Conamara in the early to mid-20th century.

There are lots of vocals in Gol with five female characters, the last of their breed, providing professional lamentations at the wakes and funerals of their dead friends and neighbours.

The cast recreate the practice of the mná caointe, women who traditionally composed elegies of praise and loss over the deceased, mixing those with spine-tingling wailings, to represent the grief of the bereaved family and community

A throw-back to pre-Christian times and accepted as part of Celtic Christianity, the keening tradition was less kindly regarded in the new Irish Free State, where no aspect of life was free from the scrutiny of the Roman Catholic Church.