Birthright
Finborough Theatre, London

THE Finborough Theatre, under the inspirational leadership of artistic director Neil McPherson, has for over 40 years belied its tiny fringe setting by producing world-class plays. One speciality has been the unearthing of forgotten treasures from an earlier time. 

The current show, Birthright, is one such discovery. Written in 1910 by the Irish playwright TC Murray, it immerses us in the grim reality of a farming family whose lives seem cruelly circumscribed by the rules and traditions of their own rural Irish society. 

Murray holds a key place in the history of the Abbey Theatre Dublin, his name often breathed alongside the mighty Yeats, Shaw, Synge and O’Casey.

At the time, his plays — and Birthright in particular — shook audiences to the core through their uncompromising view of ordinary Irish life played out not in picturesque cottages, but in soot-filled hovels.

This was a real Ireland where the people were etched out of hardship and where conflicts ran deep. 

The work has not appeared in London since 1931. It takes as its source the biblical tale of Esau and Jacob and is set in a farmer’s home where the couple Bat and Maura, with two sons Hugh and Shane, struggle to square their natural characteristics with the constraining social and familial expectations that determine their lives.

Hugh as the eldest son is expected to inherit and run the family farm on the death of his father but Bat is having none of it, arranging instead to pass the farm to Shane in one shattering blow.

Shane he sees as the naturally obedient chip off the old block; Hugh meanwhile, he regards as an impractical, airy-fairy attention-seeker whose faults emanate unforgivably from his mother. 

An explosive set-to is inevitable.

For Irish traditionalists, this production will touch chords. Raphaelia Philcox’s set and costumes, in particular, transport us to a world of hardship with her rustic kitchen knick-knacks, perfect soot-stained walls and hand-darned trousers.

The acting, meanwhile, is heartfelt and suitably anguished, as if hatched in pain from Irish soil.  

Padraig Lynch excels as Bat whose righteous wrath carries the central theme while Peter Broderick and Thomas Fitzgerald bring energy to the brothers.

Director Scott Hurran imbues the piece with passion and fight director Dimitris Kafataris builds a hugely convincing finale. 

The play, though, while shocking in its time, is less so today. It is unquestionably  authentic and intelligently written, but drama needs development and change. It needs characters to grow and be transformed before our eyes.

The downside of this play is that the nature of the conflict is explained too early, limiting the scope for discovery and, despite fine performances, maintaining the characters on one note with no opportunity for further dramatic revelation.  

When what we are told will happen happens, a simplicity ensues that is out of step with the expectations of a modern, discerning audience. This may be why the play has lain so long dormant while other Irish works enjoy endless revivals. 

A truthful piece however, and of nostalgic worth.
 
Runs until September 30. Box office: (020) 7244-7439 and finboroughtheatre.co.uk.