Fringe drama tackles topic of masculinity

Men At Play, written by Kinvara resident Brian Burns, premieres at the Galway Fringe Festival on Monday next, July 23, and runs for three nights at the Columban Hall on Sea Road in the city.

The principal theme of the play is the language around masculinity and the difficulties all men – gay or straight – face, in living up to the ideals of the gender inscribed upon them at birth, and reinforced by their families and society.

The main characters, Fergus and Fionn, are brothers – one gay and one straight. They’ve grown up in a rural Irish family with an alcoholic father who has perpetuated toxic masculinity and berates them for not following his idea of what a man should be, and with a loving mother who always tries to see the best in every situation.

This amiable duo try to make sense of the masculinity assigned to them by enacting poignant and sometimes conflicting memories from their rural upbringing, playing multiple characters, in naturalistic and non-naturalistic theatre styles, incorporating a humorous and tender medley of storytelling, movement, dance and song. The play also deals with father-son relationships, mother-son relationships, mental health issues and loss.

These themes are explored with humour and tenderness, and the promise is that they will provoke “thought, laughter and a few tears”.

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

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