Everyman Palace Cork

It is a truth universally unacknowledged that the centre-stage setting of an Irish kitchen table must have an uneven table-cloth. As presented here such a slight but visually distracting fault becomes something of a forecast for what happens in this production of Sisters, where Declan Hassett's play of 2005 slides unevenly from broad but well-pointed comedy to a tragedy which isn't pointed at all. The direction by Michael Twomey and the playing by actress Gerry McLoughlin are so well-defined that this descent appears just about possible in dramatic terms. Although written originally for the late Anna Manahan, the piece as played now is lighter in tone even where the emphasis changes and despite strong hints of contradiction. Based on the tricks of memory, the plot is worked over and around these conundrums.

The reminiscences of Martha, the introductory sister, are very tricky indeed, hinting first at a kind of innocent incest, if there can be such a thing, and then at unsuspected adultery (and definitely there can be such a thing), and thus building a commentary to provide a dysfunctional family background. There is an intriguing suggestion of the difference between memory and reminiscence, particularly in the sequence in which Martha gleefully recreates a romantic encounter, which, with tears and terror, resolves itself as rape. The sister Mary then offers her recall of much the same events, even to the rape by the man who also assaulted Martha, which, really, is pushing likelihood just a little further than necessary. Her predictably different details produce a totally unpredictable result. So unpredictable in fact that the audience, lulled by what we thought we could see coming, were jolted into laughter. And there are a lot of laughs in this play and McLoughlin’s control of her comic material is supported by her ability to invest totally in the credibility of two women still counting the cost of their toxic parenting.

Runs until August 20th