Is love, or what passes as love, a choice?
That thorny question is posed directly and indirectly within a series of dialogues and monologues delivered with raw passion and conviction by Catriona Faint as Scottish Mo and Lara McDonnell as Irish Réaltín across this gem from the wonderful Fishamble. Having met as students at Edinburgh, where Mo studied politics and Réaltín did English Lit., an unlikely relationship and bond that went beyond mere friendship arose from the diametrically opposed pair. Mo is acutely politically aware, a non-flag waving independence believer and intensely class conscious; Réaltín is a romantic who goes doolally at a proposal on Arthur’s Seat from a rich Finn and can go weak at the knees from a look from a handsome stranger across a room. The latter resulted in the eponymous Dolores for whom the two are trying to navigate a life for the most trying and difficult of reasons.
The mess that peeks and spills out from beneath the clean lines of the neat and neutral minimalist set from Alyson Cummins stands as a perfect metaphor for the deep and complex circumstances of the relationship between the young women that unravels across Eva O’Connor’s sharply written script that is as full of wit as it is of tragedy. Under Jim Culleton’s ever expert direction, the actors brilliantly convey the range of issues and emotions that they are facing up to for Dolores, even managing some energetic dance moves thanks to choreographer Nóra Ní Anluain Fay.
Any impasse in a meaningful friendship can be challenging to navigate and, like any human endeavour, takes willingness on the part of each involved. The journey that O’Connor lays out for the characters to seek a way to reconciliation goes through the pain of death, birth and of course love with all its incomprehensible complications. The language used to convey this is astute and thoroughly credible, showing skilfully and entertainingly the morass it is to be human.
This punch in the gut theatre from Dublin based four-time Fringe First and Olivier Award winning theatre company Fishamble, in association with Lime Tree Theatre| Belltable, Galway International Arts Festival and the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, is an absolute prize.
Dates: Thursday 6th – Sunday 30th August
Running time: 80 mins
Irene Brown
Radio Summerhall Arts 