Review: THE WINDSTEALERS - The Bust in a Gust

When the going gets tough, the tough develop a wind-resistant, sidestep shuffle. In Ballygweeha, the fictional Irish gale-town in Jane Madden's brilliant farce, locals have a slanted view of the world, and not just because they're bracing themselves at an angle to stop being lifted away.

There is boundless energy in this Eccles Theatre production from the outset. A dumbshow opener has the cast glide across the stage, battling against gusts in Dylan Tonge Jones's howling sound design. Unemployment has lowered moods and left the dregs of the community (a trio of comical thugs played by Colin Campbell, Lloyd Cooney and Rory Corcoran) unmotivated: "Any jobs going tomorrow? I hope not!".

Of course, this is all under the supervision of an incompetent mayor (delightfully sour Christiane O'Mahony) who doubles as an expert in scapegoating. After a hometown hero (the limber Alan Mahon) returns to establish a wind-farm, money starts pouring into the local economy. You can guess what happens next: property developers take up golf and start eating free-range, and the corrupt become unaccountable.

Under Anushka Senanayake's swift direction, Madden's play presents a parable of the economic crisis while pointing to a culture of passivity. The whistleblowing heroine Jacinta (the completely charming and adroit Katie Honan) rails against the town's reservations, her only ally being a hearty elderly neighbor (a deft Roseanna Purcell).

The stage leaves a lot of room for movement in Ger Clancy's design, dominated by a surly-creviced tree that is subject to clever transformations. Also industrious are Mary Sheehan's confectionary-coloured costumes, adapting flexibly to the actors' character-changes.

It best exposes the conservative attitutes in small town life, the passive thinking that everything will blow over eventually. You'd sense that for this talented troupe of college graduates, the turbines are only beginning to turn.

The Windstealers runs at Smock Alley Theatre as part of Tiger Dublin Fringe until 13 Sept. For more information and tickets, see the Fringe website.

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