Port Authority shines a light on ÔordinaryÕ lives

Date Published: 18-Oct-2012

Youth, middle age and old age all present people with different challenges and these are explored in Port Authority, the latest production from Decadent Theatre Company, which opened in Galway last week.

Conor McPherson’s rich piece consists of three intersecting monologues in which a young man, Kevin, a middle-aged business man, Dermot and an elderly man in a retirement home, Joe recall crucial, life-changing moments in their past and how they dealt with these.

In Kevin’s case, it’s about moving out of home and becoming a tenant in a shared house with a motley crew of residents, including a girl he fancies. For Dermot, it’s landing the job of his life and how it turns his head until reality reasserts itself. In Joe’s case, an unexpected legacy leads him to recall an encounter with a neighbour, which shook his life to its core.

This is not the stuff of high drama; rather it is an exploration of opportunities not taken in these lives.

Because it’s a static piece, the actors need to totally inhabit their characters in order to engage the audience. Under the direction of Andrew Flynn, the three actors fulfil this task. Garret Keogh as Joe exudes a sadness, which is is tempered by a sense of mischief, demonstrated when he relates how he and two other residents ramble to the pub for afternoon drinks, and become the talk of the home. He is a man whose life has followed a steady – some might say, boring – trajectory and while he muses on a lost opportunity, he doesn’t indulge in self-pity.

Carl Kennedy as Kevin has the most difficult role in some regards – his life experiences are relatively small compared to the other two.

After a muted start he ploughs in, reviving memories among anybody who ever shared a house in their youth, and his character offers some of the play’s funnier moments, with tales of parties and would-be music stars.

Phelim Drew as the middle-aged, generally unsympathetic and unwittingly funny Dermot, is excellent. He moves about the stage like a caged animal, recounting and replaying how he got drunk to camouflage his nervousness among his new colleagues. The consequences are hilarious and cringe-inducing in equal measure. He is a real product of the Celtic Tiger, consuming drink and drugs and spending money with frightening ease, while never quite believing he belongs in this gilded world.

The set on which the action takes place is suitably muted– it consists of timber benches on a raked stage, which the actors move between, as they recount aspects of their stories.

And while the men don’t know each other, it becomes obvious that the lives of these three Dubliners – the play is full of references to Dublin – are interconnected. This illustrates how good a writer McPherson is, as does his use of language. He is capable of moving from the most profound to the most profane subject matter in seconds – and that, along with the excellent performances, keeps the audience engaged.

For those who missed it in Galway, Port Authority will be in Glór Theatre, Ennis, on October 31 and 32 as part of a national tour, which also includes Roscommon, Mullingar, Drogheda, Newbridge, Tallaght, Carlow, Blanchardstown, Dún Laoghaire, Portlaoise, Cavan, Longford, Tralee, Cork and Limerick.