Review: DISCO PIGS, Trafalgar Studios

Director John Haidar marks the 20th anniversary of Enda Walsh's award-winning Disco Pigs with a cracking new production at Trafalgar Studios.

Premiering at the 1997 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the play depicts the peculiar universe created by Pig and Runt in Cork City. Born at the same time on the same day at the same hospital, the deep friendship that unites the two takes a turn on their 17th birthday when disco music and alcohol tighten their grip.

Evanna Lynch (Runt) and Colin Campbell (Pig) are dynamic and enjoyable in their restless portrayals. Quaint Cork City becomes the joyous battleground for their devotion to one another, and between the dancing and the brawling they set out on the path to understand who they are and what they want.

They animate Richard Kent's dark, rough set with Haidar's imaginative and upbeat vision - their almost non-stop dancing and jumping around the stage even more evident against the rather bare and rugged backdrop. The absence of props besides an old television is evocative, for Runt and Pig's relationship with the world is essentially non-existent.

The actors believably interact with imaginary objects and invisible people, and Haidar's direction is specific and clean even when it's the characters' frenzy leading the action. Campbell's violent attitude and inclination to brawl is mirrored by Lynch's intensity and individuality.

Lighting designer Elliot Griggs' contribution key, characterising the distinctive visual aspects of the production. The combination of his skills with Giles Thomas's sound design transports the crowd from the smoky atmosphere of the club frequented by the two friends to their rooms, which is "all that matters". LEDs, heavily pointed spotlights and brightly coloured lights merged with techno and dance music, or with television programmes, make the direct and sudden jumps in space clear and immediate.

Pig and Runt's connection with the spaces they inhabit is quite peculiar. By not giving any hints as to what their world looks like, it is the audience themselves who create it, just as the two characters have ultimately done all their lives. It's a mirror into a deep and quite unhealthy friendship, where boundaries are blurred and co-dependence ultimately leads to a very different coming-of-age story.

Lynch and Campbell are playful throughout, but also offer hints of sadness and reflection. Even when their exuberance might be mistaken for - or might even slip into - overacting, it fits with their personas and gives another glimpse into that microcosm where once no one is allowed in, but whose creation results in devastation.

Disco Pigs runs at Trafalgar Studios until 19 August

Photo credit: Alex Brenner

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