Gutted, Pump House Theatre - ★★★ - Various venues until October 30, 2019


Some excellent mime depicting the gutting and filleting of the fish in a factory began this very physical play revolving around the love lives of three young Irish women. There was some some top grade a cappella singing of popular songs of the 1980s era and the audience really got involved in the girls' often amusing, sexual shenanigans. The language certainly brought realism to the play and the very natural delivery of all three actors made them totally believable. Everything in the story was going so well until suddenly a nightmarish rape happened. This was graphically described and left us shell-shocked. Thereafter the story ran its tragic course. The performances by Eleanor Byrne, Niamh Finlay and Sarah Hosford were exceptionally strong and fitted well into Chris White's production of Sharon Byrne's play. The very complicated lighting plot by Marty Langthorne occasionally left actors speaking in the dark, but I'm sure this will even itself out as the tour progresses. The design concept uses various lamps and light shades to create an unusual mise-en-scène. The whole atmosphere felt genuinely authentic, and we felt engaged in the lives of these girls. Silence greeted the close of the play before a well deserved applause.

 Reviewed by D.S.J.

  Our Score:  ☆☆☆ 

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 WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE:
Until October 30, 2019
Varied showtimes and venues available (see website below)
http://gutted-theplay.com/events/

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