The Commitments - Palace Theatre (review)
Review by Lizzie Guilfoyle
BASED on Irish author Roddy Doyle’s 1987 debut novel, The Commitments has just celebrated its first birthday at the Palace Theatre and if last night’s performance (October 8, 2014) was anything to go by, it’s easy to understand why.
As many of you will already know from the 1991 film adaptation, The Commitments is set in the 1980s, in Doyle’s fictional Barrytown, and tells the story of a young man, Jimmy Rabbitte, who shapes an unlikely bunch of amateur musicians into an amazing live act, the finest soul band Dublin has ever produced.
But what many of you may not know is that The Commitments portrays life as it was in Dublin suburbs at a time when unemployment rates were in double figures and workers were paying taxes as high as 60%.
Then in 1986, a group of Irish bands played a hugely successful day-long concert in Dublin to raise money to combat the problem and as well as showing how vibrant Irish music was at that time, it encouraged countless young people to imagine that they could emulate the success of bands such as U2 and make better lives for themselves. As a result, bands like The Commitments sprang up everywhere.
But there is much more to it even than that. In singing about sex (Jimmy’s words), The Commitments are making a statement against the conservative almost oppressive sexual morality of Catholic Ireland.
And here we have The Commitmentettes, Dublin’s answer to The Supremes, who use music to take control of their own sexuality – very convincingly too. Played by Sarah O’Connor, Natalie Hope and, at last night’s performance, Amy Penston, they shimmy and shake in some hot little numbers.
Leading the cast as Deco is Brian Gilligan who, despite having a physique more akin to a cuddly teddy bear than a young John Travolta, has all the right moves in all the right places and his voice, as well as being powerful, has a raw edge to it that is strangely appealing. His rendition of soul classics such as (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, Treat Her Right and Mustang Sally brought the house down.
Playing the affable Jimmy is Denis Grindel, who made his professional stage debut when the show opened in October 2013 – hard to believe given his performance is as assured as it is engaging.
In fact, I cannot fault this predominantly male cast, the band members in particular, whose characters smoke, drink, fight and swear but, with the exception of one hash smoking incident, totally oppose drugs – a reference to the serious heroin epidemic that gripped Dublin suburbs in the 1980s.
Soutra Gilmour’s sets glide effortlessly about the stage and are rich in detail – right down to the photographs hanging on the Rabbitte’s walls to the darts board in the local pub. And Joey’s red scooter is an inspiration.
All in all, this is a very fine production, one that will ultimately have you clapping to the beat if not dancing in the aisles. And far from depressing (given the story’s background), it has that feel good factor that will stay with you long after the final curtain.
To find out how Brian Gilligan got the part of Deco read more about The Commitments.
The Commitments is currently booking at the Palace Theatre until April 19, 2015.