THE PROBLEM WITH THE SEVENTH YEAR

White Bear Theatre

★½

“didn’t have enough fight in it”

The Problem With The Seventh Year written by Nicholas Pierpan and directed by Paul O’Mahony opened at The White Bear Theatre and told the story of an unnamed man’s life as an ex-boxer and medical student.

After realising that he isn’t a good enough boxer to have a career, looking to keep his hunger for the sport in his life, he combines his two pursuits and becomes a cut-man; a cut-man being someone who provides medical support between rounds of a boxing match. During the retelling of his life he makes enemies, falls in love and has to make conscionable decisions at the mercy of his reputation.

Unfortunately this didn’t make for a very compelling story. The hardest thing for a one person play not to be, is someone standing on stage rambling on at you. Due to a lack of dynamism in direction and performance, as well as a script that lacked the nuance of the proposed character, this is what it became.

From the very start the play speaks on the characteristics of a boxer and how that counterparts that of a doctor, but then doesn’t offer you anything beyond brutish, unemotional dialogue. The script’s attempt at philosophy are somewhat trite with cliché images of water as well as a biblical reference which explains the title of the piece, but ultimately leaves you rolling your eyes.

The play starred James McGregor who took control of the stage calmly and along with O’Mahony’s direction, ensured that every member of the audience was involved in the intimate venue. McGregor’s breaking of the fourth wall was natural keeping the audience at ease with his smooth American register. His strongest moments were when he was re-enacting conversations between other people and he was allowed the opportunity to be dynamic in voice and body.

Despite this an uncharismatic character cannot always be made charismatic. The performance lacked emotional levels and while every corner of the stage was in use, the movement was stale and repetitive. Sadly, McGregor was too likeable to play the proposed character who is implied to be a mean-spirited, hard-shelled, at times menacing man and his shadow-boxing wasn’t fooling anyone. It was an unconvincing performance but not entirely his fault.

The direction lacked grit and should’ve been made a much louder, bolder performance had they leant into some of the more interesting sides of the character that went unexplored, for example, the duality of his masculinity being split between a rageful, masochistic pursuit and an intellectual, caring one.

The uninspired minimalist costume and set (Lu Herbert) didn’t help matters either. They left too much to the audience’s imagination which the director didn’t manage to make up for. Theatre can be a fun opportunity to explore imagery as well as dialogue and their approach felt like a missed opportunity. McGregor’s costume looked as though he’d just hauled himself through a Primark factory and a Casio watch on his wrist led you to question the period of this piece which remains unclear.

The lighting (Will Hayman) was a strong suit of the piece with LED lights laid along the edge of the stage and beams at each corner of the stage emulating the feeling of a boxing ring. Subtle changes helped steady the pacing of the piece and the hanging light from the ceiling made for some very satisfying split-lighting images.

Overall the problem with The Problem With The Seventh Year was that it didn’t have enough fight in it, it lacked energy and without a revamp it’s not one to see.

Tag Archives: 19th Street Productions

THE PROBLEM WITH THE SEVENTH YEAR

★½

White Bear Theatre

THE PROBLEM WITH THE SEVENTH YEAR

White Bear Theatre

★½

“didn’t have enough fight in it”