Danny’s Wake

Published Thursday 6 October 2005 at 11:05 by Jeremy Austin

Death always makes a person appreciate life, comic actor Jim Sweeney says in this his first play, revived for the first time since it won a Fringe First in Edinburgh in 1999.

Two school friends, Patrick, played by Alan Drake, and Billy (Oliver Fishman), are reunited for the first time since they left school some 15 years before. The third member of their ‘gang’ Danny has died and, devout Catholics that they were, his mum wants Patrick and Billy to stay with the body throughout the night. Both in their thirties and having followed different paths, it gives them a chance to address their lives thus far.

Sweeney’s Ayckbourn-esque black comedy is funny and well-structured. Each scene reveals a new twist just as things seem to be approaching a cul-de-sac. The two characters have depth and are allowed to disclose their various crises at a pace that pulls the audience along with them. Somehow these crises - failing marriages, unrequited love, betrayal of friendship - are given a fresh approach despite being well-trod territory.

Jason Lawson’s direction brings to the production subtle touches. His intelligent, unobtrusive asides from the two actors reinforce Sweeney’s script, ironing over the creases normally apparent in a first effort.

Drake has the harder of the two roles. The stuffy, uptight teacher Patrick suppresses the failings of his marriage before letting go as the liberally imbibed vodka takes effect. He effectively allows the character’s tension to boil over and then be cast aside. Billy is the more comedic of the two, but Fishman expertly mix the tragedy and bitterness in order to create the pathos necessary to fuel the character.