Review Roundup: NOT A WORD at Barbican

Galway-based Brú Theatre is presening Not a Word, a 'new piece of physical theatre about the forgotten Irish navvies who worked hard, faltered and slowly faded from memory.'

The production is running at Barbican through January 25. The creative team features: James Riordan, Director; Raymond Keane, Performer; Ultan O Brien, Musician; Sarah Jane Shiels, Lighting design; Andrew Clancy, Set design; Saileóg O Halloran, Costume design; Orla Clogher, Mask design; Jill Murray, Producer; and Jenny O’Malley, Sound design.  Learn more about this production and see what the critics are saying...

Lyndsey Winship, The Guardian: Little happens. Amid the nothingness of mundane tasks to fill the empty moments – slicing a loaf of bread, picking up a newspaper, scrabbling for coins from a tin on the shelf – there are small, subtle notes of memory, regret, nostalgia, the empty hole of family and love. A single idea is stretched across an hour until the painfully pitiable nature of his situation becomes palpable. From a bald existence is made a strange and surprisingly powerful piece of theatre.

John O'Brien, London Theatre 1: Visually the piece is absolutely engrossing. Raymond navigates the stage as a navvy with exquisite grace, poise and spot-on mimetic realism. Every gesture feels just so. These mime/ stroke balletic phases of play are both playful and poignant. They heightened and transformed into something really special by the hauntingly sublime on-stage violinist Ultan O’Brien. 

A Young(ish) Perspective: Theatre should make us curious about history, and specifically the histories of the countless (now invisible) individuals that helped make the world we all live in today. While NOT A WORD revives the very relevant history of the navvies, its lack of cohesive elements muddies the powerful connection it could have made with its audience.

Danai, Theatre and Tonic: The climax of the performance, where the protagonist removes his mask to reveal his face for the first time, is transformative. Accompanied by a shift in lighting, music, and an Irish poem heard in the background, the moment offers a poignant conclusion that resonates deeply. Not a Word demonstrates the boundless potential of physical theatre to convey meaning beyond language, proving that sometimes, listening requires more than ears. James Riordan directs beautifully this story from the past. A story about a day that looks mundane but represents so many more such days by so many more people who have remained invisible and unheard as if they never said not (even) a word.