Not every noteworthy new play has to be eye-poppingly original or tangibly of its time. Deirdre Kinahan’s ‘Moment’ is simply a great piece of writing, a beautifully wrought drama that pitches from affable family farce to agonised domestic tragedy with liquid cruelty.
In a suburban Dublin kitchen, we witness an awkward, semi-spontaneous gathering of the extended Lynch family. Matriarch Theresa (Deirdre Donnelly) appears to be going slightly dotty; happily married daughter Ciara (Kate Nic Chonaonaigh) usually looks after her, but this evening elder sister Niamh (Maeve Fitzgerald) has dropped by, as have – to Niamh’s chagrin – estranged brother Nial (Ronan Leahy, pictured right) and his new wife Ruth (Rebecca O’Mara, pictured centre).
It is clear from the moment Niamh learns of Nial’s arrival that there is some terrible rift between them; the skill of Kinahan’s text is building up to the inevitable revelation with ruthless implacability and elegant understatement. The play reaches its comic peak during an excruciating family dinner scene, in which Niamh’s doltish boyfriend Fin (an excellent Will Joseph Irvine) tries to lift the mood with his spectacularly inane jabbers. But it’s clear Niamh is going to explode and when she does finally confront Nial over his teenage moment of madness, any semblance of cheer drains sickeningly from the room. It’s hard for us to condemn this haunted thirtysomething for one terrible act committed years ago. But we are not the Lynches and neither are Ruth or Fin, who can only watch in agony as the ties that bind throttle their loved ones.
‘Moment’ is a comedy and then a tragedy about exactly the same subject: how the bonds of family are formative, painful and inescapable. Directed with unshowy confidence by David Horan, with a strong ensemble cast, it’s classic social realist stuff – ageless, affecting, and horribly true.