The last year has not been a good time to live in Ireland. In fact, with the debt crisis, the housing crisis and the unemployment crisis, you could probably describe it as a crisis. These crises are the focus of End of the Line, a piece of devised theatre by the actors of the Gaiety performance theatre company.The show jumps around showing various snapshots of modern Irish life during this recent recession, all framed by waiting in a dole queue. There are some excellent moments here. The line is well-executed and is constantly present. This adds to the feeling of oppression that this play creates. There is a nasty moment where a woman is abused by her pimp boyfriend and then gives an angry response to him. Unfortunately, although some of the snapshots were excellent and captivating, others were boring and overdone. The 50’s housewife who killed her husband made little sense in the larger context of the play. On top of this the comic performances were bland and weren’t as entertaining as some of the more interesting tragic ones. Even worse, the sheer number of things communicated in this show made it seemed cluttered.This show was a decent assessment of the problems affecting Ireland at the moment, but as a production it is as inflated and cluttered as their economy.
