SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE – Staged Reading: Review by Richard Connolly

SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE – Staged Reading presented by Four Rivers Theatre
Wexford Arts Centre
Thursday December 12th, 2024
Report: Richard Connolly

The minimalist stage setting of Four Rivers reading of Claire Keegan’s acclaimed novella ‘Small Things Like These’ enables audience focus to centre on a performance and delivery of a text that is economical, yet rich in descriptive detail. The story harps back to the eighties, a bleak time in Irish history when Ireland was a grip of an economic recession and dominated by Roman Catholic ideology. The author’s use of poetic fallacy to depict this time is effective with frequent references to the cold, Christmas winter. The harsh and chilly weather also reflects the coldness and inhumane treatment of a girl locked away in a Magdalene laundry. The tale centres around Bill Furlong, a fuel merchant and married man with daughters. He is a basic everyman who has had a problematic childhood, one in which lends to an empathetic nature. It is this empathy that leads him into a crisis of conscience after he encounters the imprisoned girl in a coal cellar attached to the laundry

Bringing Keegan’s novella to the stage is a challenging endeavour, in view of the condensed prose. Although the text possesses moments of drama, there is no use of hyperbolic language that would give the text a dramatic impetus – as would be the case in a Marina Carr or Tennessee Williams play. Despite this, director Ben Barnes presents a reading that is riveting. Andrew Bennett (no stranger to the work of Claire Keegan having appeared as Seán in the film An Cailín Ciúin) imparts a subtle performance, suitably conjuring up the story through his convivial delivery, spot on pacing, and modulation of tone. Bennett resists the temptation to mimic the characters, and instead conveys them through his own authentic voice. In essence, he comes across as being relatable, which helps to draw and hold the audience’s attention.

Interspersing and sometimes overlaying the delivery is Eleanor McEvoy’s live adoption of electric guitar, violin and electronic keyboard. Atmospheric and sometimes gentle, McEvoy’s musical arrangement helps to underscore the piece’s emotional temperature while not being intrusive or distracting from the main performance.

Although set in the past, ‘Small Things Like These’ is a reminder that it takes courage to stand up to injustice, no matter the circumstance or period, and that fear impedes change. It also chillingly illustrates a societal complicity when it comes to institutional cruelty; evident in a few of the characters’ attitude towards the nuns and Magdalene home in the novella. A quote from the Irish constitution at the end of the production crushingly underscores the pervasive hypocrisy depicted in the performance.