Killymuck
Underbelly Jersey
1825 hrs
HOW many plays in the Edinburgh Fringe look at working class life? Not enough say some but that is an argument for another day.
Killymuck reflect on life in a Northern Ireland housing estate in the nineties. The narrative is interspersed with short didactic pieces that implore you to look at the problems inherent in working class life. It seems so apposite today when you feel that social mobility is more restrictive than ever.
Aoife Lennon’s performance is a tour-de-force as she draws you in to her character’s life and draws the picture around her. As this is drawn from the writer Kat Wood’s life, some of the information you receive is harrowing especially around alcoholism and suicide.
Sometimes a play like this can be drawn into mawkish stereotypes that ends no better than Mrs Brown’s Boys meets Bread but not Killymuck. This paints pictures of real people and real testimonies whether it be her father or neighbour, whether it be the best friends or bitter enemies.
There can be a tendency at the Edinburgh Fringe for the middle class to testify to the middle classes. That is not necessarily a criticism just an observation. We would implore anyone to take a chance on Killymuck where deep in the heart of Bristo Square, where the walls have the names of scientists, a post mortem takes place on working class life in Northern Ireland.
