“Oh! It’s like flying in economy in here.” This was the cry of a cantankerous crone crammed into the Cottesloe at the National Theatre moments before curtain up at a recent performance of The Walworth Farce. I cannot imagine in-flight entertainment on even the plushest of private planes coming close to Druid’s internationally renowned production of Enda Walsh’s brilliant play.
The action takes place inside the flat and the mind of Dinny on the Walworth Road in London. Dinny is a middle-aged Irishman from Cork City who fled to England after a family row broke out at his mother’s funeral. Dinny’s two young sons, Sean and Blake, joined him shortly afterwards and every day of their three lives has been spent acting out ‘Dinny’s Story’ ever since. Dinny’s story is his attempt to lock away the bad memories and recast himself as family hero at the funeral: Dinny plays himself whilst Sean and Blake take on all the other characters in pursuit of the prized acting trophy. The acting out of Dinny’s Story is hilarious high farce, Garrett Lombard (Blake) gets my vote for the trophy for his portrayal of the wives.
On the day the play is set, it quickly becomes clear that something has gone wrong in the routine. Sean, the only one of the three who has left the Walworth flat in years, has made a mistake at Tesco while doing the daily food shopping for props in Dinny’s Story. Dinny’s reaction on discovering the error is the first hint that something terrible lies behind the farce. As the play goes on, the truth forces its way through Dinny’s Story with all the destructive power of a wall of floodwater sweeping away a crumbling dam.
We all tell ourselves – and others – edited versions of our life stories all the time: what else is a CV? Enda Walsh’s play is so powerful because it is impossible not to empathise with Dinny and all too easy to believe that it could be possible to live in London for ten years and never know your neighbours.
The sheer energy and skill displayed by all three actors cannot be adequately communicated in words and they are not let down by the fourth character who joins the action moments before the interval, with disastrous consequences.
The Cottesloe is configured as a proscenium theatre for this production: the cutaway set shows a cross-section of the decaying three-room flat. It is first class, like everything else in The Walworth Farce.
The Walworth Farce | Enda Walsh | National Theatre, London, until November 29.
Box office: 020-7452 3000
Dinny – Denis Conway
Blake – Garrett Lombard
Sean – Tadgh Murphy
