By Conor O’Neill
I interviewed writer and actor Patrick Quinn a couple of days before this performance, and he stated the play was about ‘The ride, the regrets and the cars’. Whoa, did I take that statement lightly. I wasn’t expecting the 70 minutes of the emotional roller-coaster this young actor was planning to take us on.
The set is minimal, it never changes. Yet we go through many scenarios as we track Eamon on his night’s work at the small-town petrol station as he tells us his tale from three years ago. It’s rally weekend in the present but he’s reminiscing on events of that same weekend that drastically changed his life. The petrol station is out of petrol, the storeroom is a mess and as Eamon tidies up – quite the metaphor for the story he weaves – the audience is brough on a journey through a young man’s life that is mostly a comedy but ends up as a Donegal version of a Greek tragedy.
I haven’t a clue what age Patrick Quinn is, but he’s young. Yet his pen and under the direction of Emily Foran with the set design by Robert Attewell and the beautiful soundscape by Stuart Robinson, this tiny stage theatre is transformed into a world we all can recognise. Everyone there, be they 20 or 60 remembers their first love. One sought after for three years. The first love that seems to be within grasp. That feeling of immortality. Friendships that have been forged through primary and secondary education. Friendships that’ll never be broken…
Quinn deliver his one act play without as much as a hiccup. He switches from character to character on a tuppence and leads us on a night to remember, and a night to forget. His use of groceries as character is both inspired and surreal. We’re sat there thinking ‘is this really happening?’
A powerful, at times funny, but at its heart an acutely cautionary tale.
I implore you to go watch this young actor/writer at work.
Revved runs up to and including Sunday, November 20th.
For booking details visit http://www.lyrictheatre.co.uk or simply phone the box office on 02890 381081
ENDS
CultureCrush NI 