Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me

Published Tuesday 26 September 2006 at 12:25 by James Green

Forget all about the glamour of theatregoing. There is assuredly no escapism in the first production of the Yeller Skunk Company which presents three hostages in Beirut fettered in an underground prison by the Islamic group Jihad.

Theirs is a long-term incarceration and barefoot in dirty T-shirts and tattered shorts, chained to a wall, they are understandably reeking.

What the play successfully interprets is how the Irish journalist, American doctor, and English university teacher face up to the unchanging hardships, fight off the threat of madness, and through imaginative gameplay retain an optimistic will to live.

Despite their individual and national differences, the trio, who are frequently callous and arguing with each other, also reveal warm humanity. And fortunately their make-believe escapism introduces farce and comedy into an otherwise oppressive script.

Author Frank McGuinness has based his play on conversations with Brian Keenan, who was abducted in 1986 and spent nearly five years in chains. You can almost taste the authenticity and sense the human spirit rising above the darkness and despair.

The three actors who play the hostages have countless lines and when easing the pressure with gameplay move as rabbits, pretend to enjoy a sherry or martini, tell jokes, play tennis, and act the fool.

Kevin Watt, looking reminiscent of George Best at his peak, tends to dominate the trio as the Irishman but Robert Maskell as the erudite plummy-mouthed Englishman slowly moves from being the ‘innocent’ to strong man. This leaves Mark Curtis as the American who reads from the Bible and Koran and fears they will never be released. In his case, right.

All three are entirely believable in their roles, which is exactly what the script demands, and the reward comes with the robust applause.