Fíbín’s spectacular response to unprecedented times

Review by Judy Murphy

Even if we were living through ordinary times, Fiach, the latest production from Fíbín Theatre Company, would be a terrific theatrical experience. In a time of Covid-19, it’s more than that.

This production staged at the company’s headquarters in Baile na hAbhann in Connemara is a drive-in show, depicting a car chase. There’s a cast of two. Dara Devaney plays a criminal, Fiach, while Fionnuala Flaherty is a garda, Clíona. Their life stories – different but similar and with a deal of pain – unfold on a high-speed chase along the road from Spiddal to the Cliffs of Moher.

The actors are in separate cars for most of the 75-minute piece while members of the audience stay in their vehicles and follow the action via projections on a live screen. Sound is delivered to each vehicle through the car radio.

We get close-ups of the actors’ faces at critical moments as it’s revealed that neither person’s life is quite what it seems. There’s also a series of frantic phone calls, especially between Clíona, her Garda colleagues and family members. Fiach, meanwhile, is fighting his demons on a drug- and alcohol-fuelled trip that includes an out-of-this-world experience. The dialogue is in Connemara Irish with surtitle displayed on the cinema screen.

Written and directed by Philip Doherty, Fiach slots solidly in the Hollywood car-chase tradition, albeit set in an Irish landscape. That means the plot is mostly a device to move the action along and there are several less-than-credible moments. It’s difficult to believe you’d leave your diabetic toddler in the care of a childminder who doesn’t know how to take a boiling pot of potatoes off the hob, for instance.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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