Give my Head Peace is something of an institution. The touring show of this cross-community comedy of insults, also known as satire, arrived at the Grand Opera House this week. And its broad brush stroke humour had them laughing in the aisles.
We were introduced to the by now familiar faces who have been tracking the Troubles and its legacy for decades. Tim McGarry, Da and co-author, maintains that the work has actually been instrumental in showing violence as wrong although they were accused of reinforcing sectarianism at the start, saying : “Violence is wrong is our point and sectarianism is very stupid without being too didactic and saying ‘Don’t fight and just be nice to each other ’. We showed characters like Uncle Andy as ridiculous.” Uncle Andy may not be in the show but the sectarian ridiculousness is picked up by everyone there from Dympna and Billy to Cahal and relative newcomer Pastor Begbie (Paddy Jenkins).
One of the most entertaining passages concerns Dympna (dynamic Alexandra Ford) receiving a directive from First Minister O’Neill, whose speedy delivery is very well done, to start the united Ireland conversation with Protestants. She bravely tries, gets nowhere, and in a way, shows the evolution of Give my Head Peace in the attempt. Funnily enough, on TV a few series back, Da maintained he didn’t want to remove the border, disliking Southerners, in an interview with Talkback’s William Crawley. Off air, the phone rang and Da answers ‘Gerry?’ as in Mr Adams.
The overarching narrative here concerns the identity of a tout for the British, known as Egg Whisk. “They’ve got Stakeknife, we’ve got Egg Whisk” one character observes. They have a lot of fun with this storyline.
Elsewhere though times have changed, Stormont has been in statis and so domestic politics feature strongly. Ma’s treasured family heirloom, the statue of St Concepta Immaculata, handed down through generations of mas, might be worth something. Da insists they take it to the Antiques Roadshow where Fiona Bruce, Ms Ford again, declares in a posh voice over the piece it’s worth £300,000. That will buy Da some serious treats but there’s the curse of the statue to contend with. Olivia Nash’s Ma was in rare form.
Add in some excellent stand-up from Mr McGarry, who dealt with getting older, his father’s bugbears and everything else you can think of with consummate skill and timing, and you can understand the audience reaction. Da’s father had the same dry wit, observing ‘Happy the man whose lighter and wife are working’. Billy (excellent Michael McDowell) and Dympna even handled a glitch with a mobile phone like the pros they are. If you can get a seat, go see it.
Jane Hardy
