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Abbey, Dublin and available onlineRosaleen McDonagh’s play, an unsettling love story set in a Traveller community, has the ring of truthfulnessA love story shines through a mass of societal problems in Rosaleen McDonagh’s new play, the first to be commissioned from a member of the Traveller community by the Abbey theatre. While the bond between the central couple, John (John Connors) and Julia (Sorcha Fox), is put under immense pressure by the painful circumstances of their lives, their feelings for each other are never in doubt.The opening scene of Jason Byrne’s production takes us inside the caravans of a halting site – purpose-built accommodation – where Julia is reluctantly living with John’s extended family. With her sister-in-law, the teenage Charlene (Hazel Clifford), about to sit an important school exam on the same day as her much-anticipated wedding, the conflicting pulls of family and the external, settled world are immediately established. The humour of the row between Charlene and her mother (Hilda Fay) gives way to a sombre tone, with McDonagh addressing intersecting issues of racist prejudice, social injustice, the housing crisis, violence, sexual abuse and alcoholism – enough for a series of plays. Continue reading...