(Seona Mac Reamoinn’s article appeared in the Irish Times, 9/11.)
Maeve is on shifting ground. The aftershocks of the Christchurch earthquake create physical and emotional tremors for this young Irish emigrant, whose present and past lives blur into an anxious mess. Learning to swim becomes the metaphor for her survival in this fine, understated play. Writer and director Orla Murphy draws on her own emigrant experiences in New Zealand, and it rises above familiar tales of recent Irish exile through the subtle clarity of the writing and the wonderfully judged performances. Liz Fitzgibbon, poised to dive into real and imaginary pools, gracefully and honestly elicits Maeve’s uncertainties and contradictions, her fragility and stubbornness, her love of father and home and need to escape.
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