Review by Mark Quinn
After a successful run in 2022, The Gap Year is back in the Lyric Theatre for a month. The uplifting comedy follows a trio of sexagenarians, at the point in their lives when death, health and loss are catching up to them.
Opening to a hymn, casket and stoic faces, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in for a few hours of misery. Whilst it has moments of tenderness and bitterness, The Gap Year is a riot from the moment Kate, Roisin and Oonagh decide to do like “the youngsters” do and head out on their own year-long trip to every county in Ireland.
We catch up with them every couple of months in a new county, eager to update their latest adventures on their ‘clog’ (that’s blog, as Kate sharply informs Roisin – or is it vlog?). The characters they meet along the way are succinctly fleshed out and boldly comical in their own right.
Shaun Blaney is the stand-out, as a nomadic Casanova from Dublin, a drag artist from Cavan, and an activities manager with all the proper modulation and musicality that comes with a Donegal accent. Jimmy Doran has a stand out musical moment in the second act, with equal amounts of heart and comedy.
Clare McMahon similarly appears throughout the trek as an assortment of both hilarious and heartwarming roles. She’s also pulling double (or should that be septuple) duty, as the play’s scribe. The script is where the show really soars, with lines that will break your heart and mend it back up again in equal measure.
Each of the threesome has their own soliloquy, revealing to the audience what they can’t to their friends about their unique challenges that come with ageing, or a life to this point that hasn’t felt their own. Carol Moore, Marion O’Dwyer and Libby Smyth sell every single moment of this and their friendship and fallouts alike are believable and gladdening. The play is a testament to the indispensability (and absurdity) of the Irish mammy and a tribute to friendships at all ages. You’ll want to jump in the van and join these three yourself.
Praise too must go to the set design, with the spin of an unassuming piece of dressing providing one of the biggest laughs of the night when the scene behind is unveiled. Similarly when the trio decide to upgrade to a camper van this particular set piece combines with the lighting, sound and performances to have the audience in stitches all over again.
As the journey continues, as with life, plans change and go awry – but not always in the way one might expect. Sometimes it’s just so nice to leave a theatre with your heart singing and your feet tapping, inspired to take on your own adventure.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (Very Good)
The Gap Year is at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast until 2 March 2025
