Review: Gabriel Byrne’s Walking with Ghosts, Apollo Theatre

Review: Gabriel Byrne’s Walking with Ghosts, Apollo Theatre

Summary

Rating

80

Excellent

Evocative tales of the ghosts of his past, told with humour, joy and sadness by consummate storyteller Gabriel Byrne.

Gabriel Byrne demonstrates what an excellent storyteller he is with this stage adaptation of his 2020 memoir. After recounting a dream he then goes on to provide snippets of his life in, more or less, chronological order, starting with 1950s Dublin. The stories of childhood are both poignant and hilarious with a cast of characters who really come to life in his capable hands. There’s the scary neighbour with the walking stick who tells frightening tales, the quirky passenger who everybody knows is on the wrong bus, the eccentric driver of a non-existent tractor who is helped in his maneuverings by passers-by seeing him back when reversing, and of course his parents, portrayed fondly throughout the evening. 

Early events such as the first day of school or First Holy Communion are described from a child’s eye view, conveying that sense of confused bewilderment at some of the things adults say and do.  So, if God enters our bodies when we take the Host does that mean he comes out again in our Number 2’s? Exactly the kind of question an eight-year-old boy would come out with. I could easily picture the screwed up ‘thinking’ face he must have had at the time.   

The joyful occasions recreated on stage include a day out at a festival put on for the bicentennial Guinness celebrations which the young Gabriel did not want to end, wanting to know if he could go the next one instead! The regular trips to the cinema with his grandmother were obviously a highlight and eagerly anticipated, while his first steps into acting upon joining an amateur theatrical group provide a sense of belonging and direction after a period of meandering through an unsuccessful apprenticeship and jobs.

There are darker moments too. Brother Gregory’s cruel tongue and excessive use of the cane has no doubt left a lasting impression on scores of children. The heartrending account of the death of a childhood friend is matched by the treatment of his sister during bouts of mental illness, and the most harrowing – that of child abuse at a seminary, followed by a telephone call in later life which I am not convinced provided any closure. The narrative on alcoholism culminated in a frightening episode of waking up one morning with a stranger and no memory of the previous 12 hours, before being assisted by friends to seek help.

The few props of furniture are used to good effect as is the plain set with backdrop of a giant cracked mirror. Lighting and sound complement the storytelling, times of sudden darkness acting as a kind of punctuation mark at appropriate times. This is very much a performance and not in the style of a conversation. I imagine the dialogue is a direct lift from the book, which is now at the top of my wish list.  

A return to the dream concludes this evocative account of the ghosts of his past; people, events and his younger self. The natural humour of people and situations in everyday life is captured perfectly, interspersed with darker episodes leaving us with a sense of poignancy for times past.

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Written by: Gabriel Byrne
Directed by: Lonny Price
Produced by: Landmark Productions, Neal Street and Playful Productions
Set and Lighting by: Sinead McKenna
Sound by: Sinead Diskin

Gabriel Byrne’s Walking with Ghosts plays at Apollo Theatre until 17 September. Further information and bookings can be found here.