The Shaughraun review – comic antics and roguish charm in a divided Ireland

Town Hall theatre, Galway
A beautifully knit ensemble bring infectious, giddy fun to Dion Boucicault’s 1874 caper, finding a delicious balance between whimsy and sincerity

Dion Boucicault’s comic melodrama from 1874 holds a place in theatre history for its playful upending of national stereotypes and expectations. Finding a delicious balance between whimsy and sincerity, Garry Hynes’s inventive production for Druid theatre company celebrates Boucicault’s gifts as a playwright and master of stage spectacle, whose creations dazzled 19th-century audiences in New York and London.

This staging takes a miniaturist approach, with Sligo landscapes, cliff tops and gothic towers depicted as picture-book illustrations glimpsed from a distance. Ladders and furniture descend and glide, with assistance from the nimble cast of 10, most dextrously by Conn “the Shaughraun” (Aaron Monaghan), poacher and trickster. Here, Conn also acts as master of ceremonies cum stage manager, as if standing in for Boucicault himself.