Lay Me Down Softly review, Tricycle

Lay Me Down Softly is like a subplot from a Maeve Binchy novel - the secret life of the bad guy in town whose dark quiff and beatnik trousers represent sex, sweat and sin. A tale of travelling fair folk cheating and chancing their way around rural 1950s Ireland, it is only at the end of two hours of conjecture, skipping and punches in the dark, that we get focus. Are the two youngest characters brave enough to seek a better future?

Fairground attraction

The boxing ring that dominates the stage in Billy Roche's direction of his own play, represents the macho landscape of a life on the road - ropes up, ropes down, tricks played, men splayed and women prowling around the edges carping, collecting money and filled with self-disgust.  It is utterly believable. What it isn't, is particularly dramatic.

There are fine performances at all levels, particularly Michael O'Hagan as Paedar and Simone Kirby as Lily, and a spiffing bobby-socks soundtrack. Momentary scenes of physical action are lovely but too short and too few. It's all mood, no movement.

In Conclusion: Lay Me Down Softly is a snapshot of rural life: a fairground game where by pushing different buttons you get different sounds and actions while the scene stays the same. It's interesting and intense, but there are more and better stories of Irish itinerants in the pubs on Kilburn High Road.

References
Michael Billington in The Guardian
Tickets from The Tricycle