Gabriel Byrne’s one-man show reached Edinburgh for the first time outside of Ireland before travelling to London’s West End for a run in September at the Apollo Theatre.
Scotland’s capital is a good fit for Byrne, there’s a clear connection between the Dublin-born actor and the Scottish festival audience. When mentioning The Riordans, the Irish soap he appeared in during the late 1970s, he compares it to the Scottish equivalent Take The High Road.
He also alludes to his Scottish descent granny who had a significant influence on his life taking him regularly to the cinema and feeding him cornflakes, two things he wasn’t allowed to do with his parents. Byrne has a gifted storytelling style which immediately opens up the imagination taking us back to 1950s working-class Dublin. It’s there he introduces us to a fascinating array of characters rich in language, one-liners and verve.
Adapted from his book of the same name the show is for the most part wrapped in humour, that said we are taken to some dark places in his life such as when he suffered child abuse while at seminary school and later when he discusses a struggle with alcoholism where he paints a stark picture of the morning after waking up next to a stranger and remembering nothing after a blackout.
In contrast, he creates the buoyancy of a Dublin pub in his youth and there are comical stories about his pre-acting life working as a plumber, a dishwasher and a toilet attendant. It’s when a friend recommends he look into amateur acting that he finally finds a calling. After joining a travelling theatre company the actors take Byrne under their wing.
The 72-year-old summons that moment of epiphany, acceptance and finding his place in the world beautifully while bringing this travelling bunch of thespians to life. It was timely that the Irish actor should appear during this run of Walking With Ghosts as the King’s Theatre closes its doors possibly for the last time after news broke that plans for a rebuild have fallen financially short.
Byrne gave a powerful speech at the end of the run. He suggested a theatre is very much a spiritual place like a church and what a privilege it had been to tread the boards where the likes of Harry Lauder and many other great artists of our time have appeared. It was a heartfelt moment that was complemented when he asked the audience to join him in singing a few bars of Auld Lang Syne during a genuine moment of communion.
What a tragedy it would be if this theatre in the heart of the city was to permanently shut.
