Molly Sweeney comes to Footscray Community Arts Centre courtesy of independent theatre company The Old Van. The performance has been placed on the VCE Drama and Theatre Studies 2013 Playlist, making it a popular choice for teachers, students and theatre-goers alike.
The play, by Irish playwright Brian Friel, tells the story of Molly Sweeney, a blind woman who undergoes an operation to restore her sight. Part of Friel’s collection of work that explores the personal rather than the political, this compelling text draws the audience into Molly’s life as she goes through the operation and struggles with the realities of vision on the other side. As her sight begins to return, Molly’s vibrant and beautiful world that she inhabited as a blind person is stripped away forever; everything that she knew and loved – the feel of a flower petal or the sensation of swimming – has been irreversibly altered.
Friel’s powerful narrative raises important questions about perceptions of disability and the way in which we each ‘see’ our own world. While blind, Molly lives her life full of love and receives joy from the smallest touch or sense. Her blindness, rather than being a limitation, opens up other experiences that sighted people are deprived of, and Molly herself perceives nothing lacking in what she feels is a full and happy life. Her disability is reinforced only by those around her and by those people who can only imagine that Molly’s best chances involve restoring her sight.
The story is told through a series of interwoven monologues from Molly, her husband, and her doctor, who – each with their own agenda – speak of the events leading up to and following Molly’s operation. The performance leans heavily on the text, denying the audience a highly visual theatrical experience and creating the world as Molly must partly experience it, through sound and emotion. Similarly other visual elements such as set and props, which normally provide so many of the visual cues in theatre, are largely absent here, creating an emptiness of space that is filled only with the characters and their text.
The actors speak to the audience and rarely to each other, creating an intimate conversation in which the audience is offered fragments of Molly’s story from three different points of view. These various motifs make this performance particularly interesting for students and teachers of theatre and ensure that Molly Sweeney’s place on the VCE list is well deserved. The monologues which comprise the play also provide excellent resources for those students who are working towards their own monologue performances.
The absence of visual cues means that the acting has to be particularly outstanding throughout the production. This is definitely achieved by the three actors, who deserve particular mention for creating and maintaining clear and convincing Irish accents throughout the piece. However, additional credit should go to Jane Nolan in the eponymous role; she is a joy to watch and she brings Molly’s joy and vibrancy to life, her performance lifting the energy and pace of the piece considerably.
In two acts – pre and post sight – the performance picks up speed in the second half which, after a slow beginning in the first act, is a welcome change. The extensive text also provides a challenge. Overall, Molly Sweeney is an engaging and interesting piece of theatre, and one that offers a unique storytelling experience.
Rating: 3 ½ stars out of 5
The Old Van presents
Molly Sweeney
By Brian Friel
Directed by Fiona Blair
Lighting Designer: Danny Pettingill
Operator: Chris Young
Costume Designer: Fleur Thiermeyer
Cast: Jane Nolan, Richard Bligh & Michael Treloar
The Performance Space, Footscray Community Arts Centre
17 – 25 August
