Review: HEAVEN, Southwark Playhouse

Fishamble is an Irish company that seeks out new plays of national importance, and they have struck gold with Eugene O’Brien’s work HEAVEN, which captures an Irish town (and a marriage) in decline. It is not without pathos as it gives a surprisingly tender account of long-term relationships, yet it is also delightfully amusing, with some cracking jokes.

The show is directed by Jim Culleton, artistic director of Fishamble. It is a two-hander driven by sterling performances from Andrew Bennett playing Mal, a man trying to manage feelings he is sure he is not meant to have – perhaps – and his wife, the louche and lovely Mairead (Janet Moran), still with fire in her belly (FFF, fit for fifty!). The long-standing married couple arrive back in their hometown for a wedding that revives all sorts of youthful memories. Of course, fun is poked at church, town and country, but with affection that doesn’t alienate, rather drawing us into the turmoil of desire, dreams, fears and needs.

This middle-aged couple get along; they have an understanding as Mal would say. Bennett plays the confused yet loyal husband with a light comic touch that is endearing yet provocative. As he gradually explores and reconciles his own feelings, we journey through a wedding and reception with a conflicted man who seeks to do the right thing, do the comfortable thing, the decent thing, while searching out the darker sides of his thoughts. Sexual ambiguity, with all its complexities of church and culture is wonderfully and originally explored by O’Brien as he articulates (at times poetically) the coming-of-age moment for Mal – perhaps later than expected, but coming nonetheless. 

Not to be outdone, his pal, his wife, is played by Moran with dulcet tones, and a flick of her hair plus a wave of her hand makes her irresistible as Mairead. She paints a picture of the town well past its best with its new shops and old haunts. But as she is not past her best, she heads for the local pub only to find her old ride attractive and horny as ever and Mairead’s dreams of a new freedom may well come true. She longs for a moment when she’s ‘gone from the gate’ again. 

O’Brien’s writing puts this middle-aged couple under the microscope without ridicule; this is a marriage, a union, perhaps of a different kind. If they don’t do it anymore and if she doesn’t get on with her daughter, connections and commitment are still there, even if they are at times under threat. Being predictable is something to value and the courage to change may come at a cost. But lost opportunities can fester.

Award-winning costume, lighting and set designers Sinéad McKenna and Zia Bergin-Holly are minimal yet sharp with their visions; the selected chairs allow for sufficient levels to create changing environments and the costumes are crisply turned out, giving a real sense of style to this middle-aged twosome. 

The dramatic narrative, close character descriptions, deft comic timing in lines often delivered with a vocal yearning for something other, rather than better, seem uplifting. Resolution is not straightforward – why would it be? But towards the end, the need for one another is powerful and not to be undervalued.

This play has already been lauded in Ireland and in the UK a while back, so it is delightful to see that it has not lost any of its potency thanks to this talented team who can still give us a glimpse of Heaven on Earth.

Written by: Eugene O’Brien
Directed by: Jim Culleton
Set & Lighting Design by: Zia Bergin-Holly
Original Lighting Design by: Sinead McKenna
Composed & Sound Design by: Carl Kennedy
Dramaturgy by: Gavin Kostick
Produced by: Laura MacNaughton

HEAVEN plays at Southwark Playhouse until 22 February.