Writer: Liam McCarthy
Director: John King
Mam and Love are reeling after the suicide of Love’s father years ago. Mam hasn’t been leaving the house. She’s worried about Love going on late night walks along the Shannon. During one of these late night walks, Love meets Woo, who’s lost a brother to suicide. She’s now a volunteer with the watch. Their budding friendship leads to a dinner invitation, some painful revelations and what could be a hopeful step towards healing.
Joan Sheehy gives a powerhouse performance as Mam. She’s lovable, woeful and seething with rage from one minute to the next. Denigrating poor Love’s potential as a teacher, then offering to fill his hot water bottle. She’s the epitome of an Irish Mammy (or perhaps Mammies everywhere) and her comic timing is flawless. Sheehy brings so much truth to the character, it almost overshadows everything else in the production. However, Liam Heslin and Martha Dunlea’s sweet and understated performances perfectly complement hers. The homely set design and lighting choice further enhance the emotional core of the play.
The returning thread of the Watch and their being ‘beacons of light’ in the community becomes a bit heavy-handed, feeling somewhat like an advertisement for Pieta, when the focus would’ve been better kept on the grief of the characters. It also skirts around the bigger issues at play in Irish society: people in their thirties being unable to afford rentals, so they end up living with their parents, ‘waiting for them to die’ Woo says. It’d be a funny line if it wasn’t, bleak as it is, probably true in cases. For a production that runs sixty minutes, there’s a lot of emotional work to pack into such little time, but the wonderful performances and design do a great job of creating something emotionally resonant and, even in the darkest moments, funny.
Runs Until 13th Sept 2026.
