Revu Translations
“Translations” Poster
When I heard that Brian Friel’s Translations (was being performed in the Michael Pilch Theatre I jumped at the chance to go. The three-act play is set in 19th century County Donegal and was first performed in Derry’s Guildhall where Liam Neeson famously played the character of Doalty in its premiere. Although the play is about the Irish language it is almost entirely in English. This allows for the English-speaking audience to understand everything, while on stage the characters cannot comprehend each other.
As an Irish person who grew up in the North of Ireland, the discussion of the place of the Irish Language in Ireland is an ongoing one. Many Irish people feel a sense of guilt for not knowing, what should be, our mother tongue. To this day, place names in Ireland are a point of controversy, especially in the North considering the 2022 Irish Language Act. Although Friel often claims Translations is a play purely about language, it is almost impossible to feel as though there is no political statement being made. With this in mind, I was apprehensive about what Full Moon Theatre’s take on this important piece of theatre would be. I soon learned that I didn’t need to be.
Despite the first scene appearing almost slightly removed from the rest of the production, it didn’t take long for this performance to hit its stride. After leaving the theatre, I was struck by just how technically polished the performance was, particularly considering I attended on opening night. From the cast to the musicians to the scene shifting, each element slid over another so perfectly that it looked easy. When the lights went off, I could hardly believe that I had been sitting in the theatre for over two hours.
“Translations”
The visual aesthetics were nothing short of excellent. Jasmine Ashworth’s costume design was wonderfully consistent across the entire cast, melting into Yolanda Zhou’s authentic and minimalist stage design. Natalya Battiwalla and Tom Constantinou’s musical direction welcomed the audience into the theatre and seemed to emerge exactly when it was called for throughout the night.
The only thing I had to be forgiving of in this production was the array of ‘Irish’ accents. I did remind myself that the Irish accent is a difficult one to master, getting increasingly harder the further North you get. Having a range of accents that sounded close to being Irish was something I did not find to be a distraction. However, with certain cast members where the accent was very inconsistent, I found myself wishing that it was abandoned entirely instead. Despite this, the whole cast was well chosen for each of the roles they took on. There were however a few notable performances.
From the beginning of the show, Becky Devlin (Sarah) created a palpable atmosphere that encased her character. This is particularly impressive considering the character’s minimal lines. Her body language and facial expressions were consistent and emotionally charged but her most emotive talent lay in her intermittent musical performances.
Comedic relief was supplied in buckets by Cait Kremenstein (Bridget). Every time Kremenstein came on stage the audience’s shoulders began to shake with laughter. Cohen Rowland’s performance as Hugh was extremely physical. His strength was in the way that held himself and moved around the stage. Sam Gosmore (Lieutenant Yolland) was a delight to watch and an extremely immersive embodiment of his role.
What really put this production over the edge was the on-stage chemistry between Gosmore and Robyn Hayward (Máire). Any time these two were on stage, the audience held their breaths. When I wasn’t laughing at their excellent comedic timings and natural ability to bounce lines off each other, I was unbelievably moved by the way they looked at each other as their bodies seemed moved fluidly and comfortable around the stage. There were several scenes with these two actors that called for an applaud to Kate Burke’s direction. One of these scenes was the dance scene, where Burke’s direction allowed Gosmore and Hayward to master the art of subtlety. Where on stage intimacy can often feel clunky in student performances, this was certainly not the case here.
I would go as far to say that this is one of the best student productions I have seen in Oxford. Although the team had a fantastic starting point in Friel’s script, you could tell that this was a production where no effort, minute or detail was spared in its preparation. This type of performance is only possible when you have a genuinely talented cast and crew. I am not at all surprised that it is completely sold out. Any other result would be an insult.
4/5 Stars
“Translations”
Review written by Emma McKeown
