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A shout from without
LYNNE WALSH regrets that unity is denied to a fine cast let down by the baffling spectacle of a poor lead performance
WILL YE STOP OVER-ACTING? Paul Hilton (Joxer Daly) and Mark Rylance ('Captain' Jack Boyle) in Juno And The Paycock
[Manuel Harlan]
JOHN FLINT explores the Appleby Blue development, winner of the Stirling prize 2025
GORDON PARSONS enjoys the wealth of wisdom and the clarity of expression from a dialogue between Chomsky and Mujica
GUILLERMO THOMAS enjoys a survey of the current state of the CIA (aka Langley) from an expert and insider of sorts
MARIA DUARTE, FIONA O CONNOR and JOHN GREEN review The Choral, Belen, Dragonfly, and Colossal Wreck
WILL STONE is frustrated by a performance that chooses to garble the lyrics and drown the songs in reverb
RITA DI SANTO points out the social experience of exploitation and oppression that inform the popular winners at this year’s festival
Juno and the Paycock
Gielgud Theatre, London
CAN you hear that spinning sound, ma chara? That’ll be the genius playwright Sean O’Casey rolling in his imagined grave.
The cause lies in this latest iteration of his trailblazing work, first performed a century ago.
It should be said that there are some four and five-star performances in this production. Unfortunately, its biggest name, the much-lauded Mark Rylance does not deliver one. Instead, his is a baffling spectacle, a mumbling, eye-rolling extravaganza, manifesting the alcoholic bully “Captain” Jack Boyle as a rather exhausting caricature.
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