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A little less conversation: After Sex @Arcolatheatre

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According to research, millennials in rich countries are having sex less these days. But they were prepared to talk more about it. So, it is no surprise to see a story about what happens when a series of no-strings-attached encounters start to become attachments. And the conversations arising from it. Such is the premise of After Sex, Siofra Dromgoole’s two-hander of the conversations afterwards. It’s not particularly sexy or erotic, and the snappy pacing and short scenes sometimes make you wish they stayed longer to finish the conversation. Nevertheless, it is still a funny and, at times, bittersweet picture of single lives in the big city. It’s currently playing at the Arcola Theatre .  He is bi and works for her in an office job. She is neither ready for a commitment nor to let the office know what’s happening. He isn’t prepared to tell his mum there’s someone special in his life. He doesn’t speak to his dad, so his mum is his world. It’s a perfect relationship/arrangement. Or so it

Unfinished business: Continuity @Finborough @Continuityplay

 
It's an odd feeling to laughing along with man about plant a bomb... But such is the world you're drawn into with Gerry Moynihan's Continuity, currently at the Finborough Theatre.

What's chilling about this this monologue is how it hooks you in to the story . Here the cause is taken as a given. Unquestioned, unflinching and ongoing... The Good Friday Agreement is the thin veneer of peace that conceals what's really happening on the ground. The ongoing rough justice, score settling and resistance that is largely unreported.

The story involves Padraig (Paul Kennedy), a member of the Continuity IRA. He is dedicated to the cause. But after meeting a girl from Barcelona, he soon finds his colleagues questioning him  about his commitment. And he begins to wonder about it himself.




Kennedy's Padriag is an engaging storyteller as he moves from cracking jokes to the details of planting a bomb. His likability catches you off guard as the story takes a darker turn. But he's also effective in bringing to life the world he inhabits - the humanity and inhumanity of it all.

The space of the Finborough, which is also being used as an Edwardian drawing room for Just To Get Married, is transformed by May Hannah Davies into something darker here. The drop cloths and moody lighting (and maybe the smell of fresh paint from the recent theatre refurb) emphasise the murky nature of the story.

Underscoring the tense mood with samples of news reports and an eclectic choice of music is Anna Clock's sound design.

Naturally being a story about Northern Ireland, violence and death feature throughout. It's enough to make you wonder what frictionless post-Brexit solution will be necessary to bring this closer to a resolution.

Directed by Shane Dempsey, Continuity is at the Finborough Theatre on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesday matinees until 19 August.

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎



Photos by Gary Wolf

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