Theatre review: The past rises with an old god in West Cork
Carina McNally's new play "The Crow’s Old Gold" premiered in Lehanmore Community Centre this past weekend before it hits the road this summer.
Towards the end of Alexei German’s epic, sprawling sci-fi film Hard to be a God, based on the novel of the same name by the Strugatsky brothers, a scientist who travels from Earth to live on another planet inhabited by vehemently anti-intellectual human beings stuck in medieval times, tells his colleague when he returns to earth “if you have to write about me and you probably will, write that it’s hard to be a god.”
This is a sentiment the character of Gavin in Carina McNally’s new play The Crow’s Old Gold knows only too well, as when the action begins in a local supermarket in West Cork, he finds that no one knows who he really is, nor how hard he finds life in the present day surrounded by people who don’t share the same belief system as he does.
Gavin, played by Damian Punch, is you see, an old God, who once was a magical blacksmith and had a cow of plenty which supplied him with an endless supply of milk. Now however, he is lost in the modern world, bamboozled by the vast array of different types of milk available and debilitated by having too much choice.
When he tries to tell Gráinne (Judith Ryan), the irascible shop assistant of his storied past, she isn’t inclined to believe a word he says and after helping him make his purchase, and clears him out of the shop.
Luckily for Gavin, although he doesn’t realise it initially, he is soon to meet with a woman from Cavan called Maree, who has travelled all the way down to the Beara Peninsula in search of help from the ancient forge.
Maree, also played by Ryan, has come to West Cork with a singular purpose of making an offering to the old God in the hope that he will bless a set of surgical knives which will be used in an operation she is soon to have to remove a tumour from her back.
Both Punch and Ryan give credible performances in their respective roles, although Ryan’s turn as the woman from Cavan is far more assured than her opening salvo in the supermarket, which is a bit heavy handed.
The pair spend the majority of the play on stage together, but perhaps directed a little too much of their speech towards the audience as opposed to each other, in particular when they were engaged in some tender moments revealing aspects of their respective pasts.
Behind them throughout was a large screen showing comic book style images of the local area which added a nice sense of place, especially when depicting the rugged coastline of West Cork and were accompanied by an excellent sound design by Benjamin Burns.
While the action moves along at a steady pace, at times the story can be a little difficult to follow, perhaps on account of the use of a lot of old Irish terminology and folklore references, which not everyone in the audience is going to be familiar with.
The script also might have benefited with being trimmed down in length also, as the characters often go on long tangents, occasionally repeating elements they had already covered such as how high the quality of blades made at the forge were and how much milk the cow of plenty produced.
At its heart however, there is a genuine attempt in The Old Crow’s Gold to engage with ancient mythology and the rich depth of learning that we have largely turned away from in this country, much to our own individual and collective detriment.
The show was warmly received by all in attendance at Lehanmore Community Centre, which looks out on some of the locations mentioned in the play. The real test then awaits, when the production travels further afield and must speak to the minds and hearts of a less partisan crowd.
The Old Crow’s Gold was produced by Strive Theatre as part of Creative Places West Cork and will play at the Dursey Island Festival on Saturday, June 14, before touring the country over the summer. To keep up to date you can visit their website.