Theatre 503: The Separation review

Richard Molloy’s A Separation is a family drama, set in modern day Ireland around the time of the divorce referendum. It tells the story of journalist and father of one, Stephen, his new girlfriend, and his estranged wife and daughter as the four attempt to adjust to the complexities of separated family life.

The play begins in a comical vein as we see a charming interaction between two shy new lovers, Molly and Stephen (with excellent chemistry between Susan Stanley and Owen McDonnell). Things take a turn for the dramatic when Stephen’s daughter goes missing, and he is forced to address his estranged wife. The tension slowly builds and the play lapses into a psychotic melodrama, without a clear indication as to how the audience is supposed to react. The subtleties of Molloy's writing is not supported by his characterisation: if the intention was to subvert an initial sympathy with the lead character, Stephen, this fails from the start. 

A Separation lacked a clear-cut message and its characters remained difficult to empathise with, aside from the daughter, convincingly played by Roxanna Nic Liam. The production's proclaimed social comment about Irish repression was subsumed by this picture of terrifying but universal domestic abuse, turning a subtle pastiche of difficult family life into a clumsy horror.