Book: Roddy Doyle
Director: Andrew Linnie
The Commitments starts as it means to go on, with plenty of energy, bustle and a joyful noise: it’s a Christmas party and there’s plenty of drunken singing going on, including by Deco, who has to stop mid-phrase to be 
sick. Meanwhile, soul music enthusiast Jimmy Rabbitte has a dream of bringing soul music to the world .. well, to Dublin at least. He sees soul as rooted in escapism and politics – it’s the people’s music and he wants to bring it to the people by building a band. And so a mixed bag of mainly working-class parka-wearing lads gets together. They’re quickly supplemented by three girl backing singers clumsily entitled ‘The Commitmentettes’ and the mysterious Joey ‘The Lips’ Fagan on trumpet. Joey is much older than the other band members but brings a professionalism from, he says, his time playing with the all-time greats.
The band starts rehearsing and performing under the guidance of Jimmy and Joey. But all is not well. Deco has the voice of an angel and showmanship by the bucketload but is often late and rubs band members up the wrong way. The male members of the band are envious of Joey’s success with The Commitmentettes; he becomes unpopular with the girls for the same reason. But the band is just getting a name and a scout from Eejit Records is coming to hear them – can they keep it together long enough to realise Jimmy’s dreams?
The Commitments is a whole lot of fun. It’s chock full of classics from the 50s and 60s sung with gusto and style to which you can’t help but sway, clap and, occasionally, sing along. The choreography from movement director, Jenny Sawyer, is perfectly suited to the storyline of the emerging band while Tim Blazdell’s ingenious set allows space for the big numbers while also switching easily to more intimate settings, for example, when Jimmy is at home bantering with his Da – played largely for laughs by Nigel Pivaro. However, the plot is paper-thin and the book doesn’t always bring out the developing characters well enough. As a result, too many of the characters are two-dimensional, for example, Deco’s behaviour, apart from his habitual lateness, isn’t especially obnoxious. Nevertheless, director Andrew Linnie ensures the show rattles along and one can’t fault the songs or performances.
James Killeen imbues Jimmy with the passion the character feels. His determination is the glue that holds the band together and drives the show along. Stuart Reid plays Joey The Lips with suitable gravitas as he shares his experience with the band, but he doesn’t feel like the grizzled elder statesman the character demands. On press night, first cover James Deegan brought us Deco and he certainly has the swagger and voice to play the role.
So The Commitments is something of a curate’s egg: one cannot fault the energy and sense of joy as the cast belts out banger after banger, but the lack of depth to too many characters restricts the drama inherent in the story. Nevertheless, the press night audience was on its feet clapping, stamping and cheering by the end, so they’re doing something right!
Runs Until 15 October 2022 and on tour
