Rachael’s Café is an enchanting piece of theatre that is perfect for an Ireland that is moving towards recognising the rights of transgendered people. Lydia Foy, Louise Hannon and others who have pursued the vindication of their rights through the Courts could have done with this powerful testimony of the life of a transgendered male to female to accelerate their cause.
The story is much more than transgendered based however. Lucy Danser’s script gets under the skin of inclusivity with real skill. Rachel not only creates a space for her own identity to thrive but one for others too. In this everyone is at home in Rachel’s Café, beautifully housed in the Cobalt Café in Dublin.
Danser herself was a customer of the Café and met Eric Winniger on whose life she has based the play. She does so with great understanding and communication. The performance of award winning Graham Elwell (A Dog Called Redemption) as Rachel/Eric is warm, beautifully timed, gentle and powerful. The presence of Rachel reassures and welcomes and has a visible impact on the audience – a great accolade for the skill of the performer. In script and delivery this team from Little Fly Theatre Company are in full harmony. Everything fits in a world that insists otherwise. The anecdotes of the diverse customer base, generously recounted by Rachel, remind us of the challenges of being oneself. She never evokes pity – she always radiates a greater understanding of humankind that evades her, in her right to live her own life. There is no saccharin when you have a wife and family to provide for and the blending of these two stories is powerful and realistic.
Eric still exists, he has to economically and socially. But Rachel is welcome and the unfolding of this biographical story is a blend of skill, honesty and humour that would neatly fit on top of an excellent cappuccino. This production and play could go down the radical campaigning route. It is far more skilful and valuable than that – no one is left doubting Rachel’s existence, her intellect, her capacity to love and live at the same time and her mind boggling tolerance of the unfairness of living the identity imposed on her at birth. This wonderful play is a tribute to the collaboration and respect of Danser, Elwell and Rachel and together it is a glorious celebration of identity and inclusion. Lovely, endearing and truthful storytelling infuse the life story of a woman more real than most people you could hope to encounter both on and off the stage. The Cobalt Café is known for its own unique welcome, but it has never been better served than when Rachel takes the helm. Joyous.
No comments:
Post a Comment