The Twenty Club
Writer and Director: Stewart Roche
The Twenty Club, written and directed by Stewart Roche, is now playing at Bewley’s lunchtime café from May 16th to June 3rd. The play is set during World War Two and is unusual because It focuses on a surveillance mission carried out by three female agents who share a flat in Dublin in 1942.
Their undercover operation is clearly defined in the opening scene; Norah, played by Evanne Kilgallon, is attempting to decipher Nazi codes on a transmitter. The tension in the drama is conveyed through the interplay between the three characters, who refer to themselves as “bait” and laughingly say ”our talent is to loosen the German’s lips”. Hints of danger are sprinkled between bouts of gaiety and fun when one of the characters worries that “something will happen to us.”
The transition in the play takes place when Joan, played by Ciara Berkeley, announces to Norah and Ellen that a decision has been made to move the undercover operation to Lisbon, Portugal. The women are delighted to leave Ireland however the play enters a darker phase five years later in 1947 in the aftermath of the war when loyalties are tested. Ellen, played by Lesley Conroy, captures the essence of an undercover agent in a subtly nuanced performance; incisive and questioning to establish the truth.
Stewart Roche directs with attention to fine detail to highlight the period. The atmosphere is enhanced by original radio broadcasts from NBC and BBC. Costumes, shoes and hairstyles collated by designer Kathy Ann Murphy are authentic. Lighting design, by Colm Maher, in the first half of the play assists the actors to convey an intimate, secret, lifestyle cut off from the outside world. The lighting in the second half of the play shifts the action into a sinister denouement when secrets are revealed.
All the elements of good theatre are here: writing, acting, costume and lighting convey a well-rounded production.
The Review's Hub Score
High Drama
