Review: Call Yourself An Irishman?, Jack Studio Theatre

Modern Irish identity can be difficult to fully define, not least of all when considering how the homeland figures in the lives of those born outside of it. Due to its unique history, Ireland isn’t where most Irish people are to be found, with both the US and UK housing populations that are replications of the small island from where they originate.

This naturally leaves the wild geese who are settled abroad with questions over their own cultural identity; questions which are the focus of Declan Duffy’s new one-man show, which he’s both written and stars in with exceptional flair. Duffy is a charming performer with that rare ability to balance humour and authenticity seamlessly, presenting details from his own life with ease and ensuring full confidence and sympathy. In addition, he can sing and play guitar with great aptitude, punctuating the show with musical numbers in a brilliant stylistic touch.

There’s also great initial attention paid to history, as he opens the show with a charming skit involving garden gnomes embodying major historical figures in the relations between Britain and Ireland, such as the first British invader, 12th-century knight Strongbow. From here on, however, things become a bit mixed both because the skits fail to reappear when the show could use more of their variety throughout, and because the historical interest the show starts off with seems to be forgotten alongside major events such as The Famine, and the great wave of Irish emigration that followed. 

Duffy is keenly aware of the many reasons for emigration in Ireland’s past, portraying desperate and unprepared Irish migrants to the UK and their difficulties throughout the show. But he does so without digging into the immediate historical context for what’s driven their journey, despite making space for older history at the start. It feels strange to outline some of the more ancient past while leaving out immediately relevant historical events.

Finally, the play does lose some steam by the end. While Duffy does a great job generally keeping the pace and walking us through his experiences growing up within Irish communities in London, only to never quite feel at home in Ireland itself, the last section rushes toward its conclusion. Duffy’s ultimate decision to reconcile himself to being ‘London Irish’ comes off the back of recognising that Ireland itself isn’t his home, but without us getting the sense that London really is. A bit more of that feeling of home, the positive side of belonging in London, feels missing.

Despite all this, the play is a charming and stirring piece that provides plenty of informative entertainment. Duffy is no doubt one to watch, and further work is bound to impress.

Written by Declan Duffy
Directed by David Alexander

Call Yourself An Irishman? has completed its run at the Jack Studio Theatre,
but continues with a short tour in Ireland.