Director: Jim Culleton
Reviewer: Becky Middleton
Carl Conway is overweight, has huge credit card bills, missed mortgage repayments, he has lost his wife and to make matters worse, he owes local mobster Jack Farrell €3,000 by midnight.
Set in the dark criminal underworld of Dublin in the not-too-distant past, the plot of Rank centres on Carl (Alan King) and his fellow taxi driver friends George Kelly (Eamonn Hunt) and Bush (John Lynn) and their entanglement in gambling, debt and one big choice they are forced to make in the name of loyalty.
Cricket-bat wielding Jackie (Bryan Murray, The Bill) is the domineering, threatening force who drives the performance, bringing both comedy and violence to the stage. The emotion runs high, evident by the red faces and veins popping out of temples.
There is obviously an easy rapport between the five actors, as the quick-fire dialogue bounces easily from one to the other, creating a sharp, comic style that works very well.
A lot of the humour derives from Carl’s weight, with every character making jibe remarks throughout the play, even himself. Playwright Robert Massey attributes Carl’s weight to his loneliness and the €30,000 of debts, and dieting is seen as a way of improving his life and getting back on track. In all honesty it felt a tad overdone at times, especially in a key heated moment when Carl and Jack are face to face in a confrontation. Unexpectedly Jack makes a weight comment, when one would have presumed another death threat to ensue. But at the same time it contributed a welcome comic relief from the gloom of debts, threats and violence.
Carl is a hapless taxi driver, and a lot of the action centres around the holding area for taxi drivers at Dublin airport. Bláithín Sheerin’s bland and minimalist set accurately reflects the underlying tone of the mundane; the audience learns that aging George has bought a life-time supply of toilet rolls, and Bush laments over his recent and dangerously ongoing conquests with local gangster Fred’s wife.
There is a distinct lack of women on the stage, but they are not forgotten, as wives and conquests are regularly brought up although they are never seen. The sex industry provides another comedy sideline to the main plot; Jack runs a pay-per minute phone line, hiring his own nieces to work on the other end of the line, demonstrating the cold business mind he has, whilst his son Fred (Luke Griffin) owns a strip joint with his wife Jasmine.
Rank’s triumph at the Ulster Bank Dublin Film Festival this year has paved the way for the play’s success in the UK and beyond. It is highly recommended, and seemingly a lot of major publications in the UK agree. (“A cracking comedy thriller” says the Daily Telegrah, “An enjoyable jaunt … filthily funny … the acting is spot on” says The Guardian) This gritty, quick-witted Irish thriller is a surprising delight.
Photo by Pat Redmond
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