Mono vox

Eanna MacLiam knows that there will be “a different dynamic” between himself and the Dublin audience that will see Conor McPherson’s Port Authority compared to the response the play received during its hugely popular run in London. Not that the differences will be “that great” just that Dublin audiences are bound to get “some of the finer nuances” of this tale of three Irish men who deliver a set of five monologues each direct to the audience. Eanna plays the young man, the other two leads are Jim Norton and Stephen Brennan. It’s directed by McPherson himself.

“It’s basically three generations of Dublin men,” Eanna explains.”The aim, basically, is to tell each guy’s story to the audience, engaging the audience almost as if it was another character in the play because the three of us don’t inter-act on stage. Though threads from each monologue do finally link up towards the end of Port Authority. But in a very subtle sense. It’s a wonderful piece of writing and theatre, by Conor. With totally authentic characters. Conor has a great knack of conveying big emotions while being economic with his words.”

Eanna “saw and loved” one of Conor McPherson’s previous plays, the equally wonderful The Weir but “didn’t see” the more recent movie Saltwater, which was less than “authentic” as far as this viewer is concerned. But Port Authority, according to Eanna, finds the playwright/scriptwriter and director in full flight again. And as an actor he relishes the challenge of presenting monologues to the audience, agreeing that one of the main advantages is that “you don’t have other actors who can fuck up and thus ill-effect your delivery.” But delivering monologues also has its disadvantages.

“It’s not something you are asked to do very often” he explains. “I certainly haven’t been. You could do a monologue in, say, Shakespeare, but that’s within the context of a larger drama; here the whole thing is dependent on how you deliver your own part. And that can be unsettling. I’m used to doing it now so it’s a lot more enjoyable but, at first, I felt strange.”

That said, Eanna insists that neither public nor critical responses to the play would make him change his delivery. Even if it is only in terms of rhythm and pace.

“I’d only do that if me ‘boss’, the director told me that’s what needed to be done. And you can find that the pace needs to be changed as a play goes deeper into its run. But I feel we’ve really got it right now. Not just the rhythm and the pace but the whole thing. And, again, it was strange because when you’re doing monologues you don’t rehearse, at first, with the other actors. You just do your monologue on your own. So it added another pressure when you’d then go and deliver it with Stephen and Jim. But I’ve worked with both guys before so that made the whole thing that little bit easier.”

Indeed, Eanna MacLiam worked with Norton on two projects last year. An experimental film shot on digital video, which was shot in Tipperary and called The Box, which is currently being edited. And another movie, On The Nose that also included the likes of Robbie Coltrane and Dan Ackroyd. And has “worked with Stephen – who is really cool, and a great, great actor” quite a few times over the years. But overall Eanna believes that this production of Port Authority is “one of the best plays I’ve ever come across, read or acted in. Conor just hits certain kinds of keys that really resonate for me.”

Port Authority opens at Dublin’s Gate Theatre on April 24th