Over-long, occasionally violent and at times painful to watch, the Passion of the Bertie has nonetheless proved a box-office success.
So great were the advance notices that the "house full" signs went up in the auditorium in Dublin Castle over half an hour before yesterday's performance was due to start. Hundreds of ordinary men and women, believers in the credo of Fianna Fáil and not, trooped into the hall in expectation of an epic, and dozens more were left stranded outside as the gates were shut.
The supporting feature, a morality tale featuring the Brawler Lawlor, primed the crowd's appetite with its incisive dialogue and a powerful performance by the well-known method actor. Lawlor really got under the skin of his characters when playing previous parts as a politician and a prisoner, but his current performance as a gutsy lawyers battling against overwhelming force is enjoying a surprisingly long run.
At over five hours in length, the The Passion of the Bertie was too long for some tastes, but then this blockbuster has been a long time in the making. The central character first unveiled his script in the Dáil five years ago, though re-drafting has seen some changes introduced since then.
The revised plot sees Bertie in a more central role in the work, with more face-to-face contact with his main protagonist, Tom Gilmartin, than originally envisaged. Having previously played The Man Who Wasn't There, this was certainly a big change for the bashful star.
Mr Gilmartin himself has seen some changes in his script. Originally seen as the bad-guy blow-in from Luton and the butt of humour, he now finds he has his own fan club, which was there in force to cheer his arrival at yesterday's premiere.
The Passion of the Bertie is acted in a unique language used by the principal character, believed to be distantly related to English. However, this proved less of a barrier to understanding than expected, as the lawyers earned their fees by teasing out every word used by the leading man. The repetition of lines throughout the show helped the clarity while adding to the length, so it was after seven o'clock before the Passion's matinee performance finally wrapped up.
But even after his long stretch hunched in the limelight, it was a smiling Bertie who emerged to the pops of the paparazzi's lightbulbs.
The star of the show pronounced himself satisfied with his performance, even saying he had enjoyed himself. But we'll have to wait until next year for the critic's verdict when the tribunal makes its awards.
