Rugby Irish Community present The Field

Alex Brown as Bird and Sean Kerrigan as Bull McCabe. Photo by Martin Pulley.

The Field by John B Keane performed by the Rugby Irish Community Drama Group at Rugby Theatre, Sunday 10 May as part of Rugby Fringe Week. Directed by Nicky Main & Bev Avis-Dakin.

Review by Ann Evans

The Rugby Irish Community Drama Group took on The Field by John B Keane and an excellent job they did of it too.

We spent the evening in Flannigan’s Bar, in the village of Carraigthomond in the Southwest of Ireland in 1965. It’s the sort of village where everyone knows one another, times are hard and money is short. The bar is run by a central figure in the village, Mick Flanagan played well by Trevor McClay; his wife, Maimie (Patricia Lynch) is a no-nonsense young woman who’s well aware that she turns the heads of the locals. One of the regulars is Bird, played by Alex Brown, a sneaky individual always on the lookout for his next free drink.

Sean Kerrigan as Bull McCabe, Alex Brown as Bird and Steven Clarke as Tadhg McCabe.. Photo by Martin Pulley.

The play focuses on a local widow, the softly spoken Maggie Butler, played by Bernie Merrigan. She is selling off a field, which another local farmer, Bull McCabe (Sean Kerrigan) feels that he has rights to, as he’s taken care of it, and grazes his cows there. Mrs Butler is selling the field by auction right there in the pub and wants £800 for the field. Bull McCabe plans on getting it for £200 and secretly persuades and bribes his cronies to rig the auction, making sure he gets the last bid at £200.

Trevor McClay as Mick Flanagan and Bernie Merrigan as Maggie Butler. Photo by Martin Pulley.

Bull McCabe who lives up to his name as being fierce, bullying and dangerous, has the back-up of his aggressive son Tadhg McCabe (Steven Clarke). However, their plans go awry when a well-to-do English stranger walks into the pub. William Dee played by Chris Allen Mason announces that he will be bidding for the field, and no amount of persuasion by Bull McCabe will make him back down.

Alex Brown as Bird, Patricia Lynch as Maimie Flanaghan ad Chris Allen Mason as William Dee. Photo by Martin Pulley.

So, Bull, his son and Bird decide to ‘give him a little fright’ that night, when he’s alone in the countryside. However, the three of them do more than frighten him off, they murder him.

Despite the police investigation, and constant questioning by the local police sergeant, Jonathan Farrer, gentle persuasion by the local priest Father Murphy (Pat Grady), and a hell-fire and brimstone sermon by the Bishop (Sean Quigley), no one will admit to the murder. The guilty party band together with a made-up alibi and stick to it. Of course, the police sergeant and most of the villagers guess that it’s all down to the McCabe’s but no one will risk speaking out against them for fear of reprisals.

Sean Quigley as the Bishop. Photo by Martin Pulley.

Good acting by the Rugby Irish Drama Group as they created an authentic mood and atmosphere of a quiet farming community back in the 60s; there were a few instances particularly at the start where some of the voices could have been a bit louder and clearer, but the story unfolded neatly with plenty of humour and intrigue that kept the audience engaged throughout. An excellent evening's entertainment.

Discover more from Rugby Theatre: www.rugbytheatre.co.uk. Box office 01788 541234.