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REVIEWS
GOD OF THE HATCH
MAN
Sunday Tribune -
28th March 1993
Laughter
v. bureaucracy
The God of the
Hatchman is the man behind the hatch, faceless and anonymous, in
the Community Welfare Office who decides who gets what in terms of
benefits and supplements and determines their worth, merits and
rights.
Punchbag Theatre's production of Rita Ann Higgins's play,
originally a poem, is a self conscious and witty depiction of life
in the Community Welfare Office. The bureaucracy of the system is
arcane and inhuman, imposing a meritocracy of convoluted and
incomprehensible rules whose function is to strip away the
humanity of the Welfare applicant. The applicants, different in
age, sex and background, spin tales and play out their lives, part
fantasy and part biography. Stories of shaggy sheep dips, stream
lined roof racks, embezzlement of Chesterfield suites mingle with
gossip about illness, marital infidelity and breakup, and sexual
fantasies. Word play, insults, puns and songs are let fly. Lives
are performed in the anonymity of the Welfare Office against the
cruel manipulations of the god of the hatchman.
The mix of self reflexive cinematic and theatrical styles moves
between bawdy humour and the darkly menacing; occasionally pacing
and tone are uneven as moments of hilarious slapstick and wry
observation collide heavily with overly intense pathos.
Performances are good (especially Enda Kilroy, Gary McSweeney and
Aidan Walsh) and David Quinn's supple
direction allows the extraordinary richness and warmth of
Higgins's sparkle.
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