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The clogged feet of boyhood that crippled
an Irish poet
ON RAGLAN ROAD
Old Red Lion Theatre
OUR romantic notion of the “tortured genius” could have been based on Patrick Kavanagh, whose life is chronicled in Tom O’Brien’s play, On Raglan Road, currently at the Old Red Lion.
Kavanagh had it all – years of poverty, severe alcoholism, unrequited love and a talent that by late middle age had him lauded as Ireland’s “greatest living poet”.
It was Kavanagh’s refusal to conform to anyone’s type that makes his story interesting. A farmer in his youth, his poetry is deceptively simple, unpretentious and raw. His uninhibited directness is his tragic flaw, the strength of his poetry and the cause of his pain.
Always quick to attack, slow to forgive and never with a thought for the consequences, his stubbornness and refusal to pander to others inhibited his career and earnings, and fuelled a lengthy, bitter feud with another Irish heavyweight, Brendan Behan.
O’Brien’s script, which combines narration, poetry and song, interspersed with key incidents of Kavanagh’s life, lacks a clear dramatic line, and what he chooses to dramatise can seem diffuse.
However, it is rarely uninteresting and engages passionately with its subject – though if nostalgia threatens to obscure Kavanagh, behind that romantic stereotype the writing is always intelligent enough to retain sight of the individual.
Nik Wood-Jones, excellent as Kavanagh, combines sordid booziness with genuine gravitas and Russell Kennedy’s production is full of rich energy.
Ultimately, the passion wins out – having arrived ignorant of Kavanagh, I left determined to read his poetry.
Until September 8
020 7837 7816 |
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