Writer: Tennessee Williams
New Translation: Vanessa Fielding and Catherine Joyce
‘A rose can lift the heart of the world’
The plaintive sounds of Paddy Keenan’s uileann pipes set the scene, summoning up the atmosphere of a halting site and within it a domestic space. This is home to Sarah, a Traveller woman and a dressmaker (played by Denise McCcormack) and her daughter Rosie (played by Shauna Higgins). About ten minutes into the play Sarah’s adored husband Ross O Reilly, is killed while carrying contraband in his delivery truck. The women in the community and the priest deliver the tragic news. What follows, as three years is compressed into two hours, is Sarah’s descent into abject grief, denial and ferocious anger when she discovers her husband’s affair with Estelle Hogan. Estelle (played by Christine Collins), is a dark and sensual presence. She turns up shrouded and carrying roses at Ross’s funeral and Sarah’s heartbreak signals her unravelling.
Director Vanessa Fielding, working with Catherine Joyce, presents a new, ground-breaking version of Tennesee William classic play The Rose Tattoo. Special dispensation from the Tennessee Williams’ estate gave them permission to transpose the original context, a tightly knit Sicilian community in 1950’s New Orleans, to a Traveller setting in Dublin, somewhere near Baldoyle. Artistically, this was a brilliant move, necessitating close consultation with Travellers and activists, the cast is a mix of actors drawn from the settled and the Traveller community. The result is an authentic and fast paced production, laced with humour and pathos and with considerable emotional range delivered by the performers.
This play is over two hours in duration. Its vivid, colourful setting (designed by Sabine Dargent) and strong performances hold our attention however, giving the audience an insight into the close but claustrophobic culture, the superstitions and also the supports of a specific community. We glimpse the prejudices or the dangers they so often encounter; the nearby motorway presents a constant threat, the horses frequently break loose. But universal themes such as passion, grief and betrayal underpin the story. Finally, the need for love prevails, leading the protagonists towards a place of hope.
The mother / daughter relationship is central as Sarah tries to protect her teenager from the iniquities of the world. Meanwhile, Rosie recoils…. ‘Mammy, I’m ashamed of me life of you, you are … disgusting’, Rosie screams. This role is beautifully played. The girl is lovely in her brightness and innocence, struggling to find independence and love. Her relationship with Jack, a settled boy played by James Collins, is a lighter thread running through the play. The main shift in focus takes place in the third act when a stranger arrives. The romance that develops between the younger man and the widow takes Sarah from a place of repression to fulfilment.
If one wonders has much changed since the play’s last outing in Ireland, it helps to know how it was received when it was first performed in Dublin in 1957. The show was shut down just two nights into its run and the Director Alan Simpson arrested for ‘lewd entertainment’. The main provocation, apparently, was that a condom was ‘mimed’ in the play, though never actually produced, since condoms were in fairly short supply in Ireland at that time.
Seventy years on and the scene with the condom barely draws any reaction from the audience. The moment when Al empties his pockets is swift and inconsequential. While Sarah initially sends her would-be lover packing, later, won over by his words and charm, she gives in to his overtures. Her cries of pleasure (thankfully, the bedroom noises are off stage), may have brought a blush to the cheeks of some audience members but, most of us were happy for her.
Sarah’s on stage rapport with Al sustains the latter part of the play and Lloyd Cooney shows both presence and vulnerability in this role. Mostly though, the play depends on Sarah and Denise McCormack is a powerhouse in this part, as her character moves rapidly from being fragile and distraught one minute to fierce and furious the next. The role is immensely demanding but McCormack carries it wonderfully, visibly transforming from fractious and haggard in one scene to seductive and alluring in another.
There are many memorable moments in the play such as when Sarah begs Father Paddy (played by David O Meara) to break his vow of secrecy, to tell her the truth, when she beseeches the plaster Madonna ‘Give me a sign, a sign…’. And when the priest is critical and authoritarian, calling Sarah ‘an animal’, it is satisfying to see her resist his insults and fight her corner. Moments of high emotion are often interspersed with comic asides, bringing a balance to the intensity of the play which on occasion veers towards melodrama. This should not be seen as a flaw however since, most likely, that was the playwright’s original intent.
The Rose Tattoo takes place at the Depot space at the Complex, once home to Dublin’s fruit markets. Appropriate then for a play that frequently refers to banana trucks! While the venue is spacious, it is not without its challenges. The sound quality was at times uneven and, depending on where actors were positioned, the audience sometimes strained to catch certain phrases or passages.
The above comments apart, this production is vital, energetic and thought provoking. While Fielding and Joyce have paid great attention to the inflections and cadences that characterise Traveller speech, the script never veers too far from the original, and so the story continues to be credible and tender and poetic.
Hopefully, this innovative version of a theatre classic will find its way to other venues in and outside Ireland.
Runs until 20th May 2023.
The Review's Hub Score
Powerful, earthy, provocative
