Psychopath brought to life at An Taibhdhearc

REVIEWED BY PAT MULLAN

I first met Victor McGowan in Seamus Scanlon’s short-story collection, As Close As You’ll Ever Be, and these were my thoughts at the time: “Bloodier than anything from Quentin Tarantino, as poetic as anything from James Joyce, these stories will slice open your soul and leave you stunned! They are dark and bleak – but they are redeemed by the quality of the writing.”

Last week I met Victor McGowan on the stage, at An Taibhdhearc theatre.  Brought to life by the enormously talented Luke Morgan, Victor McGowan straddled the stage with assurance, bringing Seamus Scanlon’s dark, bleak poetic language to life.

Victor is a highly intelligent, cultured psychopath.  In the first part of the performance we see him bullying his way into a pub frequented by the inner sanctum of the IRA.  The slightly manic but nonetheless amusing banter between the inept barman, a seemingly disengaged customer and McGowan is punctuated by violent outbursts; for example, when he expresses his fury at the presence of British ‘Walker’ crisps alongside the culturally acceptable ‘Taytos’.  The tone of the piece becomes much darker on the arrival of an IRA commander and the ensuing violence portrays McGowan in full psychopath mode.

The second and third let us see all the damaged facets of Victor’s personality. And we get to see how an Irish mother can be a manipulating and smothering influence. His last fatal administration to his mother accompanied by the words ‘the body of Christ’ so effectively capture that other manipulator: religion.

This is a stark and moving portrayal of the tragedy which results from the inhuman brainwashing and manipulation of young, idealistic minds.  Here it is shown in an Irish context but this is a universal theme.