Juno And The Paycock
10 October 2024
Gieldgud Theatre
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Juno and the Paycock, currently running at the Gieldud Theatre, is one of those classic tragi-comedy plays that is still held in high regard. First staged in Dublin in 1924, it follows a working-class family in Dublin in 1920, in a country ravaged by civil war.
In a tenement building, Juno Boyle tried to keep her family afloat, with a son disabled by in the war of independence, a daughter currently on strike to fight work worker’s rights, and a husband who drinks every last penny away. She is the matriarch of the family, the only one working and bringing in a meagre wage, while ‘Captain’ Jack Boyle is more concerned with spending time at the pub with his best friend Joxer. When news of a hefty inheritance comes, she has hopes for a better future for herself and her children, while Jack has grand ambitions and spends frivolously before the will is fully settled.
The stage is absolutely beautiful, a run down room with sparse furnishings, held in dark greys and browns, gorgeously derelict with a hearth as a focal point at the front of the stage. J. Smith-Cameron is superb as Juno, a strong woman who desperately fights for her family, skilfully negotiating her frustrations with her husbands carelessness. While her counter part Jack, played with grand stage presence by Mark Rylance as a Chaplin-esque villain who provides most of the comic relief with physical stunts, clowning across the stage in stark contrast to the heavy topics portrayed. In combination with Paul Hilton as Joxer, the duo quips and banters excessively, providing an entertaining team of ne’er do wells amidst the struggle of their closest loved ones. A stellar casting decision that carries the production on the backs of two strong actors.
As the characters go from bad to worse, the witty back-and-forth and physical comedy provide much needed levity, never quite eclipsing the starkness of the strife and devastation but underlining it in a very human way.
This is a grandiose production, captivating and thought provoking. A beautiful revival of this remarkable play.
