Review: PROMISES OF GRIEF, VAULT Festival

They say death doesn't happen to you; it happens to the ones who survive. After all, they're the one whose life has to go on - seemingly uninterrupted to the rest of humanity. The living don't get a break. From organising the funeral to the endless paperwork it takes to confirm that someone's not alive anymore, it's devastating. Nobody prepares you for the post-mortem admin or funereal chitchat.

Dian Cathal details the standardised reactionary clichés people fall into when faced with death. He is honest about his guilt and perfectly presents the numb resignation of someone whose exhaustion has taken over. After his mum passes from cancer three years after the ten predicted months, his dad dies of a broken heart and his brother Brian kills himself. It's a lot.

While an empathetic and touching monologue, it mainly lacks the catharsis of an original hook. The audience sit and listen in the tiny space, faced with stacks of boxes and memorabilia. It doesn't get more intimate than this, but Cathal's pull is tepid and tired. We go along like we would with a friend who needs to talk about the issue again, out of duty and respect more than genuine interest. We become part of the aforementioned clichés.

Parts of the text try to slide into a poetic flow of sorts, but clash silently against the timid symbolism and semantic play. Flowers given by well-meaning friends wither and die like his mother did. Sunsets are offensive. Beauty makes him furious, as does the fact that the world goes on and people have good days. Everything he says is authentic and truthful and absolutely relatable. But there's nothing more.

In 30 minutes, Cathal becomes an elegiac friend. He tells you about his mum's fight with cancer (although he states that calling it a massacre would be more right), and about how his dad's sadness killed him, and in turn they both led his brother to his own death. It's all very sad, but it isn't the plunge into mortality or the deep look at grief that it wants to be.

Promises of Grief runs at The Spacement at The Glitch as part of VAULT Festival until 8 February.

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