Meade Conway discovered that the school he attended was involved in one of the Ireland's many school scandals. Viewing the subject through the eyes of three people working in an all boys school, A Silent Scandal, directed by Sally Hennessy, is at Greenside @ George Street.
An intense, claustrophobic drama
The scandal itself remains vague. It’s hinted at but the details are never revealed, It leaving room for imaginative musings as to what really happened. This gives the play a sense of universality; it’s not just about a specific incident, but rather the workings of a system that allows for cover-ups, while exploring the reasoning and motivations of the people involved, the manner in which they can get away with wrongdoing through the exercise of power and the threats they use to safeguard their own positions. The characters can be seen as symbols of the key roles that emerge when any scandal is unearthed. Hence we have the one who is the perpetrator, the one who is complicit and the one who is the antagonist.
In the hierarchy of this well-ordered school the newly appointed Ms Turley (Senna O’Hara) is on the bottom rung. Initially not intimidated by rank, she either doesn’t realise that her place is to keep quiet, obey instructions and get on with her job, or is a deliberate trouble-maker. She increasingly has grounds for raising concerns about the student at the cenrte of the scandal, not least because her own son attends the school. The Head (Eoghan Quinn), knows that any revelations would be the end of him, so tries hard to quash her interference until he manages to turn the tables on her and she too becomes a victim of his bullying. Between the two is the egotistical Mr O’Toole (Ben Carolan): a slimy jobsworth who sycophantically sucks up to head in order to safeguard his own position. He clearly knows that things are not right but lacks the moral fibre to support Ms Turley.
The play moves slowly at first as O’Hara and Carolan establish their characters and the strained relationship between them. Then, as the scandal becomes the focus of attention, a new energy is released and it becomes an intense, claustrophobic drama with three strongly drawn characters that evoke feelings of sorrow, loathing and disgust.
Anyone who has worked in an office, a school or hospital, or anywhere that has an entrenched power structure will recognise how such institutions are run and identify with these characters.
