Juno and the Paycock

Chesil Theatre, Winchester

Firmly based in the grim reality of an Irish tenement during the civil war, Sean O'Casey's 1924 play provides a rich mixture of humour and pathos, with a variety of archetypal characters, the self sacrificing Juno Boyle (Rachel O'Neill) at one extreme and her feckless husband 'Captain' Jack (Michael Goron) at the other.

A chancer who manages to evade responsibility, escaping to the pub for drinking sessions with his pal Joxer (Steve Clark), Jack takes no part in the political divisions that prove the undoing of his son Johnny (Tom Humphries, on debut, makes the guilty fearfulness that dominates his character quite contagious) and is too self absorbed to be any help to his daughter Mary (Tania Casey, also in her first performance for Chesil), only showing enthusiasm when it appears he will inherit a substantial sum of money.

Cecily O'Neill's direction allows full weight to each element of O'Casey's drama, with much to praise, including the musical evening (Heather Bradford's singing stands out here), Judith Frank as Mrs Tancred mourning her son, killed by the troubles, Andrew Jenks as the plausible Mr Bentham, the vicious rejection of a pregnant Mary by her second favourite suitor (third debutant Roger Bratchell) and the fine performance of Rachel O'Neill as Juno.

Ham Quentin