Consumed @ Traverse Theatre
Karis Kelly's Consumed is a fantastically paced and multi-layered tale of intergenerational trauma in one Northern Irish family
Eileen is turning ninety, and she’s determined to party. After all – as she points out – it might be her last chance. Her daughter Gilly is throwing her a birthday dinner at her home in Bangor, Northern Ireland; granddaughter Jenny and great-granddaughter Muireann are en route. But as four generations of women congregate under one roof, wounds, grievances and things unsaid linger in the air. Tensions simmer as steadily as Gilly’s pots of soup on the AGA, and secrets long since buried threaten to emerge.
Karis Kelly’s play has already got some hype (it won the Women's Prize for Playwriting in 2022), and the buzz is warranted. Consumed has got all the hallmarks of a winning family drama. It’s fantastically paced, maintaining suspense until the last few moments while also pushing forward momentum, and it's very entertaining. The family dynamics between the four women are keenly observed, and Kelly gives her characters some truly funny lines. Birthday girl Eileen enjoys some particularly dark and twisted zingers, especially when she’s pontificating about Sectarian divides.
Director Katie Posner wisely allows the story to take the lead here. The characters’ emotional tug-of-war takes centre stage, with Lily Arnold’s naturalistic set serving as their domestic battleground. The actors step up to the plate with strong, charismatic performances. Julia Dearden plays disgruntled matriarch Eileen wickedly, while Andrea Irvine’s dazed, distracted Gilly is compelling. Caoimhe Farren practically vibrates as a frustrated, wilful Jenny, lending her an almost wild animal-like energy as she prowls around the trap of her old family home. Muireann Ní Fhaogáin does what she can with the role of Muireann, although she arguably has the least to play with – the teenaged character, piping up intermittently with thoughts about veganism and ethical consumer choices without provocation, can come the closest to cliche.
Within her hurtlingly good story, filled with dark humour and snappy back-and-forths, Kelly is also attempting to explore deeper themes. For the most part, she succeeds. Consumed is a multi-layered story about generational trauma, tackling The Troubles but also going further, all the way back to Ireland’s Great Famine. It’s an ambitious work, and although she doesn’t hit the bullseye with every throw, it's truly exciting to see a new playwright dare to try and come so close. Although the play’s surreal shift towards the end feels a little too sudden, it's full of dramatic potential that could – with a little more running time and development – turn into something genuinely remarkable.
Consumed, Traverse Theatre (Traverse 1), run ended