Panned, Theatre Upstairs

The title itself can have many meanings, but one that surfaces early on is a more direct connection with the Barrie tale, and that of the central character being lost and not fitting in, or taking the same route as his friends. This is evident enough by Sean being the only lad at a costume party not wearing simply a mask, but wearing a full Peter Pan costume, leggings and all, made for him by his girlfriend, a reason he can't - or won't - say no to wearing it, in Catriona Daly's new play.

This idea of being lost, out on a limb is translated wonderfully by the set of a pallet like raft out on the ripples of water, actual water, designed by Laura Honan, while the simplicity of it is jarred at times by the bright strip lights of Eoghan Carrick's design, and Carrick is also the director, alongside Dylan Jones' sound, that has a piercing quality to it, that adds and amplifies Sean's own inner conflict.

Sean is played very well by Ste Murray, who as is usual in a one person show, takes on all other characters. What is different here, is that we also get the inner thoughts of Sean immediately before or after he speaks, where the tone and content can be quite different. It is this turmoil, not getting the interviews for grad school, not telling people he was going for them, the parties, the friends with connections, all of which plays out at the costume party, although at times the inner thought slips into the outer world. Murray handles this movement between the three angles very well, even if there is some repetition in it as the play moves on and out to the Docklands.

It is a dark piece, lightened by some humour, and allows Murray to show a fuller range, rather than the more quirky side that I have seen before, and he brings a likable, yet taut, quality to Sean, as well as imbuing the dialogue with a lyricism. Daly's script does bring us into the confrontation with the self well, but this technique does take time to get used to in the beginning, but when it does it is intriguing and effective, as what appears to be small thoughts to us, have huge ramifications for Sean, something that Murray shows very well, keeping it all contained.

The piece does remind us that to everyone else, all might look well, but like a frozen lake, there might be a lot happening underneath that we are unaware of. In this, it delivers a fine piece, in an almost Jekyll and Hyde style confrontation, that can spiral down very far.