BY HELEN CASEY
Directed by Caroline FitzGerald
Helen Casey’s ESMERALDA is a new play about friendship, mothering and the power of choice in women’s lives.
Brid (Rose Henderson), Catriona (Fiana Toibin) and Nuala, one time school friends, now middle aged, have arranged to meet.
A trip down memory lane.
Brid gets busy showing off her dance moves, a stranger (Fiona Condon) turns up on a bicycle , memory lane reveals its secrets and lies….and of course there’s Esmeralda.
Set Design by Martin Cahill
Lighting Design by Cathy O’Carroll
Stage Management by Eva Walsh
Assistant director Sinead Ringwood
Choreography Diane Richardson
Image by Naomi O’ Dwyer
Esmerelda – Review
by Frank L
Esmeralda is a trip down memory lane when three old school friends Brid (Rose Henderson), Catriona (Fiana Toibin) and Nuala agree to meet at what is apparently Nuala’s holiday home. However, Nuala is waylaid so Brid and Catriona can chat and reminisce. They also reveal some of the choices that they have made in their life. However, both are somewhat guarded. Brid appears to be the more content character and is all on to participate in what is happening at the end of the pier where a long sunken boat is about to be raised, while Catriona has little interest. All the time they are waiting for Nuala to arrive. Eventually, Nuala’s daughter Michele appears on a bicycle with the key. She is however in a highly distressed state. She cannot help blurting out to Brid and Catriona the cause of her great unhappiness. When she leaves Brid and Catriona react to her plight in opposite ways. They have an argument and what was guarded is now revealed.
The set consists of the outside of a holiday home with a picture window. On the window sill, a large number of babushka dolls are lined up, graded from large to small. There are random chairs and a table which are typical of a holiday home.
In the first part of the play, Brid plays the more prominent role and Henderson has a ball as she relives the dance steps of her teenage years. At this stage, Catriona plays a more passive role. But following the arrival and departure of Michelle, Catriona goes into no-holds-barred mode and one can feel her palpable anger and indeed fury as she lets rip. It is an impressive performance by Toibin and she is far more imposing in this format than she was gently reminiscing in the first part.
This is a serious production but the early scenes need to be tightened. The opening section of the play adds little to the overall flow, but the final confrontation between Brid and Catriona is a fine piece of theatre and makes it all worthwhile.
Written by Helen Casey
Directed by Caroline FitzGearld
Starring Rose Henderson, Fiana Toibin and Fiona Condon
Set Design by Martin Cahill
Lighting Design by Cathy O’Carroll
Stage Management by Eva Walsh
Assistant director Sinead Ringwood
Choreography Diane Richardson
Image by Naomi O’ Dwyer
Special thanks to Kennys of Lucan, the Institute of Education, and Peter & Una Kearns.