Entertainment

Jordan comes out fighting in Lemonade Sandwich

REVIEW

Lemonade Sandwich

Lyric Theatre,

Belfast

AFTER the rise of accessible female-centred theatre in Northern Ireland, including the estimable A Night with George and the many outings of Maggie Muff, the male side gets a chance with Lemonade Sandwich.

Mick Draine's play, premiereed by Brassneck Theatre Company in the Lyric's Naughton Studio on Tuesday, was drenched in testosterone from the off. Against the backdrop of a minimalist boxing ring, the engaging Gerard Jordan introduced us to the world of boxing, the route out of Divis for a boy with all his hopes pinned on a mean right hook.

One slight problem with the drama is its mix of reality and fiction. Based on the real-life narrative of one of the trainers who helped the five Northern Ireland boxers make it to the Commonwealth Games finals in New Delhi in 2010, it still felt the need to promote the sports philosophy of Rocky and Raging Bull.

We got a lot of projected nuggets of sports wisdom beamed on to the back of the set – "A fighter has to know fear", "Your life is yourself" and even, almost quoting Lear, "The gods will offer you your chances", though, as in any good reality TV show, they snatched them right back tout de suite.

Jordan's character evolved from a likeable, bullied kid, with comical best friend Lego, to a real fighter in every sense. Born to box, he managed to escape his dysfunctional family.

At times, Draine's play veered towards literate docu-drama, outlining the Le Corbusier-influenced European hopes behind the construction of Divis Flats and the deflation when the Troubles smashed them.

There were some superb and funny passages, including a scene where our hero revealed his enthusiasm for female newsreaders, including Lynda Bryans and Pamela Ballantine.

The filthy humour, when it arrived, was very well done and we could have tolerated more of the interaction between the two friends. For the rest, we followed a decent enough plot as the guy suffered nervous breakdowns, loss, descent into the predictable drug and booze hell and of course, came out fighting.

If the denouement was predictable and overwritten, as the guys reached Delhi and Paddy Gallagher's final fight, the production values were classy with some nice use of music from Albinoni to Eye of the Tiger. We carried out not just the cod Dream the Dream philosophy, but a nice performance.