Page 52 - The Gonzaga Record 2004

able. The production was smooth and flowing — evidence, as always, that a close
collaboration has teased out and solve the dramatic problems.
The musicians added excellence to the night in another dimension — this mem­
ber of the audience could convince himself that he was listening to the original.
However, shorter musical interludes would perhaps have better complemented the
pace of the drama.
The play is, of course, primarily the story of the young rebel Jimmy. It is a sad
story and perfectly contemporary: inadequate parenting, limited opportunity, and
frustrated energy that tries to make its statement in anti-social ways. No problem
of age-gap for the actor playing this role. Bill Laffan (6B) caught the character’s
tension, anger and despair. Two moments deserve to be singled out: the pathos of
his attempts to make an unheated, shabby hall into a haven of romance (Bill was
helped here by the tactful performance of his girl, Linda, played by Helen Kelly);
and the perfectly controlled outburst of frustrated rage in which Jimmy smashes his
way into the forbidden inner club-room.
Clearly, then, this production was the result of much hard work, pooled skills
and shared talent. Congratulations to all concerned.
M ichael Bevan

Director Brian Regan
Art Director Darragh O’Connell
Assistant Director John Moriarty
Stage Manager Gerard Casey

C ast (in o rder of appearance)

Paddy Tony McCarty
Jim my Bill Laffan
Tony Mark Taheny
Stapler Jack Laffan
Conway Conor Mulvagh
Linda Helen Kelly
Swan Paul Murphy

Stage Crew Freddie Alexander,
Ronan Bergin Conor Doyle,
Brian Durcan, Ben Eustace,
Ross Finlay, Peadar Golden,
Ross Kelly, Paolo McGibney,
Shane O’Leary