My Name Is Saoirse

The New Theatre

****

Lonesome Saoirse lives with her father, her brother and the misfortune of looking painfully like her dead mother. Siobhán, on the other hand, lives across the road with her five sisters and the “fiery jealousy” that comes with a house full women.

Eva O’Connor portrays both girls – one with a steady, elegiac timbre; the other in bursts of colourful caricature – with humour and tenderness in a coming-of-age-story set in 1980s Limerick. Nothing about this story is particularly original, but O’Connor’s lyrical script and measured performance are an evocative combination. And David Doyle’s simple but subtle stage design make it a pleasure to watch.

I laughed, I cringed, I cried – all in the space of an hour.

Ends on Sept 20