Blarney boys

>> The dark humour and luck of the
Irish is brought to life in Trad

BALD AMBITION:
Patrick Costello and Graham Cuthbertson

by AMY BARRATT

As a famous non-Irish character once said, “Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof.” In Trad, playwright Mark Doherty goes Tevye one better, presenting a centenarian, one-armed former fiddler as the apparent last repository of one family’s memories and traditions.

Performed by SideMart Theatrical Grocery in the brand new studio space at the Segal Centre, Trad fits into a fine Irish tradition of plays that mingle the dark with the comic.

As old Irishmen, the characters in Trad are, pretty much by definition, tellers of exaggerated tales. But in this piece of absurdist drama set in a practically deserted rural village, it is not just the characters but the playwright too who has been kissing the Blarney Stone.

The two main characters are Thomas (Graham Cuthbertson), age 100 and his Da (Patrick Costello), age unknown. Between them, they’ve but three arms and three legs. But as Da never fails to remind his “boy,” they’ve got tradition, which in his mind is a jumble of personal recollections, tall tales, religious faith and xenophobia. Da constantly tells and retells the same stories, not because he is “addled,” but because he wants to make sure Thomas will remember them when he’s gone.

The opening image, of a younger caregiver basically enslaved to an older invalid, recalls every Irish play from Beckett’s Endgame to McDonagh’s Beauty Queen of Leenane. It turns out though, that long-suffering Thomas has a secret his Da never suspected: he believes he fathered a son during a one-night stand “a while back”—70 years back, to be precise. The two duffers set out in search of the “lad” who could well be a grandfather himself by this point. Along the way, they run into Sal, an ancient woman who haunts the graveyard, and the equally decrepit, permanently soused local priest (both played by Andrew Shaver).

Costello and Cuthbertson are a striking pair. White-faced, with heads shaved, they are practically unrecognizable. As the father, Costello is about half the size, with twice the fire, of his lumbering son. Cuthbertson imbues the syllables “oh, Da” with great weariness, and love.

To Da, brought up on the parting Red Sea and the Virgin birth, any story worth its salt must have a touch of the miraculous about it. Appropriately, Sarah Yaffe’s design has magical touches, which I won’t give away. The set, suggesting a cold, deserted beach, but serving as many settings, is kept mostly in obscurity; the lighting seems to seek out the actors’ distorted faces in the darkness.

The balance between dark and light, comic and tragic, is proving to be one of SideMart’s chief preoccupations. With plays by David Mamet, Morris Panych and now Doherty, the one-year-old company has quickly defined itself as a serious group of artists intent on having a lot of fun.

Although Trad worked nicely in the new studio space, it would be sad to see SideMart abandon the site-specific productions they’ve done to such great effect. Perhaps there’s a play out there set in a theatre building that’s perpetually under construction?

Trad, until Dec. 18 at 8:30 p.m. at The Studio
Space, Segal Centre, (514) 739-7944