RTE Drama on One, 4 March 2012
Annie (Cathy Belton) is a modern career woman who has returned from Dublin
to Limerick to look after her dying mother. There she meets up with the rest of her family - Ritchie (Malcolm Adams),
her gay brother dying of AIDS, her sister Marie Rose (Catriona Ni Mhurchu) and Marie Rose's husband Vincent (Malachy
McKenna). The five-strong cast is completed by Polish nurse Kalena (Mirjana Rendulic).
Anything But Love might be described as quasi-Chekhovian in the sense that
it focuses on the hopes and self-interested frustrations of a small group of people cooped up in a confined space for
three days. While Annie enjoys a successful career, she has been unlucky in love; for years she has been attracted
to Vincent, who has contracted a loveless marriage to Marie-Rose. Annie and Vincent meet furtively on several occasions;
while confessing their attraction to one another, they know their dreams can never be fulfilled. Marie-Rose is full of self-loathing;
partly this is due to Vincent's indifference towards her, but she also understands her inability to relate
to people - especially members of her own family. While Ritchie has led a reckless life, he shares his
sister's inability to communicate with people; rather than admit the truth about himself, he prefers to play the
piano. Vincent has devoted himself to building up a property business; although a successful entrepreneur, he has a child-like approach
to love and its consequences.
Mary Coll is a fine writer, with a unique ability to portray a family in turmoil
through dramatically effective exchanges involving two or three characters. Sometimes her dialogue can be very funny
- Ritchie in particular has some nice throwaway lines - but she is more concerned with showing how the past inevitably
affects the present in all the family members' lives. Eventually the mother passes
away, and the play ends with at least one family member achieving partial happiness - even if it will only be for a short
time.
Recorded in front of a live audience at the Mill Theatre, Dundrum, Joan Sheehy's
production contained a score performed live by Michael O'Suilleabhain that reinforced the play's melancholic
tone.
This was the first in a series Drama in the Air, a month-long series
of live performances presented by the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival in association with Drama on One. I look
forward eagerly to hearing the other three productions.
