Silent (Tour – Lowry)

Unlike the title suggests, there is little quiet in this one-man play written and performed by theatrical soloist Pat Kinevane. Silent is a curious synergy of dance and dramatic monologue that captures the painful performance of life in all its candid splendour.

Tino McGoldrig is a hopeless, helpless figure who recounts his tragic story from within the hobo-chic, merlot swigging dwellings of a shop doorway. The son of a suicidal father and an adulterous mother, his homosexual brother’s death leads to the demise of his marriage and his consequent battle with mental illness.

But McGoldrig is a storyteller with a love for the black and white silent movie era that famed his iconic namesake Rudolph Valentino, and through his multiple personalities he offers an insight into an anecdotal pictorial realism.

Silent follows Forgotten as Kinevane’s second solo play with internationally acclaimed new play company Fishamble under the direction of Jim Culleton. Both pieces ascribe his love of song and spectacle with a compassionate fascination for the forgotten members of society.

Kinevane presents the perfect balance of intensity and earnestness; he relates to the audience directly, which blurs the lines between performer and audience, but with such intimate effect that it feels as though you are a part of the conversation.

Of course, not all of the dialogue is rhetorical and mental conflicts that accompany McGoldrig’s recollections are cut to like the scenes of a silent movie by faultlessly executed stage lighting. Dancing the tango with his shabby blanket and clapping his heels to the Paso Doble, the humour of dialling the mental illness hotline soon turns to furious screaming "How fucking dare you! You know fuck all about my life!"

What begins as a somewhat hulking runtime eventually builds to a touching finale and the frenetic pace closes with a quiet pause. "If anyone asks, I'm not here. I'm not here at all". Sorrowful sentiment. Silence.

Silent is at the Lowry until 15 March.

– Sarah Bloomer