Theatre review of Drunkard at the Bus stop

The Irish are known for great theatre... from Synge, to O'Casey, to Beckett, to Friel... whatever you are in the mood for they've got it. From world famous theatres, like the Abbey, to small independent run ones there is something for every person on every budget. Today was free comedy day at UC Dublin's 17 bus stop.

I arrived a little late to the production.... there was a line at the WC,  so I missed the beginning, thankfully the author of the play made it easy to catch up. The cast consisted of two drunk men, ages early to mid 20's, three sober co-eds early 20's and finally an annoyed American, who bore a striking resemblence to myself. The main character, the Drunkard Paul, had most of the dialogue consisting of three or four lines "Money doesn't buy you everything" "Did your daddy buy you that scarf" "Why won't you shake my hand?" and "Why are you such a group of stuck up bitches?", repeted to any of the three young women who stuck his fancy at that particular moment, spewed in random order and sometimes the same line repeted three or eight million times in a row. Sometimes the actor would feel the need to ad-lib a few lines in order to liven up his performance... but these were often mumbled and damn near impossible to understand. Periodically he would hold his hand out to the young lady who seemed to be the main object of his desire for her to either shake or fist bump.

The three co-eds were brilliant in their portrayal of annoyed intellectuals, desperate for the bus to arrive. The object of attraction would periodically roll her eyes and tell the drunkard Paul to "Fuck off" in the most convincing tone I have ever seen on the stage. You could really feel her disgust and growing aggitation at the unwanted attention of the male lead. Randomly to add to the comedic value of the action unfolding on stage, Drunkard Paul's friend would say his name and attempt to pull Paul off stage..... but to no avail.

After a good ten minutes of this inccohertent brilliance on the part of the playwrite and millionth plea for a fist bump on the part of Drunkard Paul, the American piped in with "She isn't going to touch you, fist bump you, talk to you or anything else. She has told you to fuck off at least twice and now I am too. SO FUCK OFF!!!!!" At which time the stage direction apparently called for Drunkard Paul to hit the bus stop, turn his attentions to the American who, in a stroke of genius direction, looked as cold and calm as any ice statue and ignored him until he exited stage right and the curtain closed.

It is a shame if you missed it, as it was only running for one performance. Each of the actors seemed to really understand their characters and I have rarely seen such amazingly convincing performances from an amature company. I look forward to more from this writer.