God Bless The Child: First Confessions are The Hardest, Gaiety Theatre

My first taste of Cork born Frank O'Connor's writing was the story First Confession when studying for the Leaving Certificate, contained in the pages of Exploring English, a compilation of short stories for schools. O'Connor was born Michael O'Donovan at the beginning of the twentieth century, with Frank O'Connor being his pen name, and over the years became a very prolific writer, particularly of short stories, while also lecturing at Harvard and Stanford in later years. Here, Pat Talbot productions give life to three of O'Connor's stories in a wonderful evening that shows how these stories don't age.

All three stories are told through the eyes of the children, all primary school age, and played by adult actors: Michael's father returns from the war but neither know each other, Larry who feels he is a genius gets his first crush, and Jackie, whose grandmother has moved into live with them and is driving him mad, must also embark on the dreaded first confession. Family and religion are a central feature in these works, told with a lightness of touch and all from the child's point of view, showing a world strange to them as they try to negotiate their own feelings and the actions of those around them, including the religious teaching aspect that puts fear into Jackie. It is this mix of life and innocence that makes O'Connor's writing timeless, and in the hands of three excellent actors, Ciaran Birmingham, Shane Casey and Gary Murphy, ensure the humour and emotion comes through with a lightness of touch. 

Pat Talbot directs this wonderful, lovingly created, evening of theatre, letting each child tell their tale, moving from one to the other, so that they all start and finish around the same time. Between sections, the three kneel and chant prayers, reminding us of the religious prevalence of the time, with the large sacred heart pictures on either side of the stage looming large over the three, as does the hanging cross in the centre. Jim Quelly's school based set is perfect for the occasion, rows of wooden tables and benches, and bed sheets hanging along the back, along with the already mentioned religious images, creates something both familiar and different, while Mary Newman's costumes are different enough for each characters but evoke the time and place well.

It is a wonderful adaptation of O'Connor's writing, not having to do anything fancy to bring out the essence of the work. In school, our teacher told us what an excellent writer O'Connor was, and seeing this production, I am nodding in agreement, reminded of this, as the tales unfold with aspects of lightness and depth with three terrific performances, in this lovely production of a great Irish writer's short stories that runs for only one week. I am sure it will be back again.