The Big Fellah

Synopsis

Young fireman Michael Doyle decides to live up to his Irish heritage by joining the IRA. He’s recruited by Costello, the charismatic ‘Big Fellah’, who wants to use Doyle’s brownstone apartment in The Bronx as a safe house for an escaped killer. But it soon becomes clear that someone is leaking information to the FBI... A boisterous and witty story of loyalty, disillusionment and betrayal, set among the Irish American community of New York, Richard Bean’s (Harvest and England People Very Nice) darkly funny play spans three turbulent decades.

Our Review:

John Dixon - 25 May 2011

The Big Fellah, written by Richard Bean, is produced by Out of Joint and the Lyric Hammersmith and ends its tour at Northern Stage this week.

Set in an IRA safe house, the timing for the play could not be better, with the Queen and American President having just put Ireland back in to headlines. The play covers quite a lot of ground, starting after Bloody Sunday in 1972 and ending with the Twin Towers attack in 2001. But it flows extremely well and the characters are allowed to age and develop over the years.

The central character is the 'The Big Fellah' David Costello (Finbar Lynch) an IRA fundraiser in New York, who helps the cause by sending guns back to Ireland. The writing gives the audience the feeling they are virtually eavesdropping on action which takes place over the years as the safe house becomes refuge for several IRA operatives. One of these is Elizabeth Ryan (Lisa Kerr) who develops a relationship with Michael Doyle (David Ricardo-Pearce), the ow...

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