I'll be the Devil

Synopsis

An epic and brutal journey into the dark heart of occupied Ireland during the eighteenth century. Knowing that her soldier lover is leaving for England, a local woman unleashes a sequence of events that will result in tragedy for both their children. With a poetic fearlessness, Leo Butler shows us what happens when a violent foreign power is in intimate and callous contact with the primitive heart of an ancient society.

Our Review:

28 February 2008

During last year’s Complete Works season at Stratford-upon-Avon, the RSC invited Leo Butler and Roy Williams to write new plays in response to Shakespeare. The company’s season at the Tricycle shows the fruit of this experiment, starting with Butler’s I’ll Be the Devil, a barbaric epic of colonial confusion -- well, it certainly had me guessing -- set in Limerick in 1762 for which The Tempest is the template.

Why 1762? Why Limerick? Butler seizes on several salient historical factors: William III’s redcoat regiments included Catholic Irishmen conscripted to fight overseas; it is possible that some of them found themselves stationed back in their homeland en route to the French campaign. Such a garrison might include a case of divided loyalty.

Butler’s Lieutenant Coyle (Eoin McCarthy), therefore, is faced with his former lover, the vengeful, witch-like Maryanne (Derbhle Crotty), a personification of Shakespeare’s unseen Cycorax, mother of Caliban, and their gi...

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Coral - 5 March 2008:

Who's paying ya Fred?...

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