A search for a satisfactory 21st-century cultural replacement for the religious ritual. Duncan Molloy’s exploration of an alternate form of shared community experience in post-Christian Irish society.  But it isn’t as grim as all that, especially the raw onion-eating tour de force by Amanda Coogan. Her “Reading”, along with those of Darragh Kelly (reciting the gospel according to Charlie Haughey from a recognisable ‘80s speech), and Eleanor Methven in a lyrical riff with a bit of help from Paul Simon’s You Can Call Me Al, issue from the pens of the inimitable Arthur Riordan and Amy Conroy. New readings are on offer next week by Tom Swift, John Morton and Mary Coll.

From the outset, when audience members are urged to blow out votive lights on entry, shake hands, and then asked to participate in a new baptismal rite with a salubrious emphasis on water to water instead of the funereal “ashes to ashes”, the familiar rites are there. T-Rex and The Beach Boys, thankfully, give Kumbaya the heave-ho. There are plays upon energy and “mass” (by Bryan Burroughs and NASA) that also find their way into a layered experiment one might like to see better developed. Molloy is earnest and doesn’t pretend not to be muddled, but that is part of the search. Believers be wary, sceptics welcome.
 

Star rating: ★★★★