Fried Eggs, written Lindsay J. Sedgwick; Moonstone Production in association with Dodo Theatre Town Hall Theatre, Tuesday 14th June.
Review by Emer McMahon
Moonstone Productions’ Fried Eggs, which had its debut in Theatre Upstairs in Dublin last August, took up residence this week in the Town Hall Theatre’s Studio space, with writer and director Lindsay J. Sedgwick bringing her work to a Galway stage for the first time.
This is a tale of two sisters (and three fried eggs); a tale of night and day; an exploration of the light and darkness hiding in the corners of our apartments, and our minds. Eloise and Lulu are not on speaking terms. They have a system. Ships in the night. Until they don’t. Other people get involved and life threatens to crack their careful arrangement wide open, bringing a shared past (and unconventional present) tumbling into full view.
In the studio, on yet another bewilderingly warm evening in Galway, Donegal native Karen Connell brings both sisters to life. Hers is a performance laden with empathy, precision and grace, and we follow her as we get to grips with the thought provoking dynamic of the two characters.
The set is pared back – two red chairs, back-to-back on a square playing space – and functions well within the narrative. However there is a sparse, sanitary quality to the design (including costuming choices) that jars somewhat with the feeling and imagery of the piece. Although perhaps the safest (and arguably the wisest) choices were made, my mind did wander to consider a more gritty, egg-stained and unavoidably messy world on stage.
In any case, Connell appears right at home – both in the space and within Sedgwick’s language, which flows back and forth in time and gives each woman a voice of her own. And so we are in good hands for just under an hour, before Fried Eggs goes on with its journey.