Terminus, Young Vic | reviews, news & interviews
Terminus, Young Vic
Terminus, Young Vic
Molière meets magic realism in a poetic three-hander set in Dublin
Monday, 04 April 2011
The compelling power of good acting: Declan Conlon and Catherine Walker in 'Terminus'Images by Ros Kavanagh
Mark O’Rowe is one of Ireland’s leading contemporary playwrights, and Terminus was first produced in 2007 by the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. It transferred to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008 and is now being revived by the Abbey in an international tour. His play charts another ordinary night in Dublin city, but as this captivating triptych unfolds the events his characters - simply named A, B and C - describe are anything but. A man and two women deliver a series of overlapping monologues about love, sex, loss, regret and acts of shocking violence, but also of angels transporting souls to the afterlife, a demon made of worms and a pact made with the devil. The language - sparkling, funny and heightened - is poetic and fantastical, Molière meets magic realism.
Mark O’Rowe is one of Ireland’s leading contemporary playwrights, and Terminus was first produced in 2007 by the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. It transferred to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008 and is now being revived by the Abbey in an international tour. His play charts another ordinary night in Dublin city, but as this captivating triptych unfolds the events his characters - simply named A, B and C - describe are anything but. A man and two women deliver a series of overlapping monologues about love, sex, loss, regret and acts of shocking violence, but also of angels transporting souls to the afterlife, a demon made of worms and a pact made with the devil. The language - sparkling, funny and heightened - is poetic and fantastical, Molière meets magic realism.
‘With no props, physical movement or interaction, the actors convey emotion with just a look, a small hand gesture or tone of voice’
Share this article
Add comment
more Theatre
An Actor Convalescing in Devon, Hampstead Theatre review - old school actor tells old school stories
Fact emerges skilfully repackaged as fiction in an affecting solo show by Richard Nelson
The Comeuppance, Almeida Theatre review - remembering high-school high jinks
Latest from American penman Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is less than the sum of its parts
Richard, My Richard, Theatre Royal Bury St Edmund's review - too much history, not enough drama
Philippa Gregory’s first play tries to exonerate Richard III, with mixed results
Player Kings, Noel Coward Theatre review - inventive showcase for a peerless theatrical knight
Ian McKellen's Falstaff thrives in Robert Icke's entertaining remix of the Henry IV plays
Cassie and the Lights, Southwark Playhouse review - powerful, affecting, beautifully acted tale of three sisters in care
Heart-rending chronicle of difficult, damaged lives that refuses to provide glib answers
Gunter, Royal Court review - jolly tale of witchcraft and misogyny
A five-women team spell out a feminist message with humour and strong singing
First Person: actor Paul Jesson on survival, strength, and the healing potential of art
Olivier Award-winner explains how Richard Nelson came to write a solo play for him
Underdog: the Other, Other Brontë, National Theatre review - enjoyably comic if caricatured sibling rivalry
Gemma Whelan discovers a mean streak under Charlotte's respectable bonnet
Long Day's Journey Into Night, Wyndham's Theatre review - O'Neill masterwork is once again driven by its Mary
Patricia Clarkson powers the latest iteration of this great, grievous American drama
Opening Night, Gielgud Theatre review - brave, yes, but also misguided and bizarre
Sheridan Smith gives it her all against near-impossible odds
The Divine Mrs S, Hampstead Theatre review - Rachael Stirling shines in hit-and-miss comedy
Awkward mix of knockabout laughs, heartfelt tribute and feminist messaging never quite settles
Power of Sail, Menier Chocolate Factory review - alternately stiff and startling
Paul Grellong play delivers in its final passages
Comments
...