Review: In Our Veins

Fast-paced, grounded, powerful: In Our Veins runs from Tue 18-Sat 22 at the ADC Theatre


“The worst slums in Europe. That’s where Dublin came from. Out of the shit and into the world.”

And so the play begins, with the chorus chanting these words from the balcony level of the stage hidden in shadow. It is not surprising then, that the next scene takes place at a funeral. What is surprising is that the characters spend it poking fun and making light of the occasion and the death of their grandfather. This is the tightrope that In Our Veins tries to tread for the remainder of its runtime, between the tragic and the comic, with varying levels of success.

The story is not an unfamiliar one: a trans-generational tale charting the history of one family and the changing times they lived in. What sets its apart is the structural genius of its plot and free-flowing script. The play opens in the present day with a charming tableau of the Doyle family, complete with name-calling and flare-ups of temper; it’s mundane, relatable and loaded with exposition. This means that when the plot kicks in soon after and we are thrust nearly 100 years into Dublin’s seedy past, the audience has a firm reference point to understand what they are watching and a reason to be invested, even in seemingly unimportant interactions, because we know they must somehow play into the characters’ future.

This sense of continuity is enhanced by the fact that the entire play is performed by a rotating cast of the same six actors each with multiple roles, a difficult task that was well-executed by nearly all. The play has a real sense of momentum, whether it’s meandering along its way or hurtling towards a climactic moment.

In Our Veins is anchored by a first-person narrator through nearly every scene, and this is used to fantastic effect frequently. By allowing the audience access to a character’s every thought, it fosters an intimacy that makes them more sympathetic.

In a beautifully nuanced performance by Grace Heslin, our central character for much of the first act, Anne Brady finds herself in a Dublin as unfamiliar to her as it is to the audience. Getting to see this world and its indignities from her point of view makes it easy to root for her and despair for her in equal measure, and the same goes for all the characters throughout.

Sometimes the narration turns almost into a stream of consciousness or a sequence of mundanities that simply washes over you, but these normally precede moments of high drama that then seem to come out of nowhere, adding to their emotional impact.

The excellence of the production’s lighting also cannot be overstated, most memorably during an unexpected twist moment played electrically by Christian Longstaff. The director Orla Hogan, assistant director Nathaniel Gunn and the entire production team, headed by Lillian Jones, did a fantastic job establishing mood and location throughout the play. 

Yet the script certainly has its flaws. For one, though it bills itself as a biography of Dublin, the city never transcends being merely the setting of the play into feeling like a character in its own right. Whilst the first-person storytelling excels at getting the audience to connect with the narrators, it simultaneously creates a sense of detachment towards the wider events and context of the play.

Moreover, the very first scene of the play promises an almost grimdark depiction of Dublin’s history and life in those time, and though many unsavoury aspects are mentioned and examined to a certain extent, such as the dilapidated tenements, the exploited prostitutes of the Monto red-light district and the unsafe and unreliable working conditions of the ship dockers, the script has a decidedly optimistic streak, far more concerned with highlighting examples of charity and kindness despite the difficult times.

More disappointingly, at some of the play’s most poignant moments, when the ugliness of human nature is made at its most apparent, the plot is all too quick to move right on rather than let the moment breathe and give room for its impact and repercussions to be explored in-story. Perhaps the grim chant bookending the play is less a mission statement and more a reminder to the audience, in the same way the play is a reminder to Patrick’s grandchildren, that the adversities of the past ought not to be forgotten so that we have better appreciation of our present privileges.

Finally, the whole cast must be praised (if only for their valiant attempts at sustaining Irish accents for two hours), particularly Meg Reynolds who gave stand-out performances both as Lily and Esther, though some roles were certainly better characterised than others.

In Our Veins is a cohesive, engaging narrative that seemingly sets out to be a gritty, hyper-realistic depiction of Dublin city and its complicated past and ends up being an optimistic piece more about loyalty, love and the loss of innocence. You wouldn’t be missing out on much were you to never see this production, but if you did there is certainly much to gain.

3/5

‘In Our Veins’ runs at the ADC Theatre from 18-22nd October, with tickets available here

Feature Image Credit: Orla Hogan & In Our Veins Team