The Taoiseach's tale

“The Boss” may, or may not turn up during the run of Sebastian Barry’s new play, Hinterland, at the Abbey but, like some Shakespearean ghost, his presence is bound to dominate the stage every night. Why? Because Barry’s play is about Johnny Silvester “father of the nation” who “won the hearts and votes of Ireland.” But that was “in his heyday” and “now, as his bright hinterland recedes, he finds himself revisited by a dubious past. He’s waiting for a phone call, not from a crony or a mistress, but from his doctor...” And two of the main questions posed by this play are “Can tragedy redeem him in the absence of remorse? And where is that Special Branch officer when Johnny sorely needs him?”

No doubt Hinterland will provoke much political discussion and debate when it opens on February 1st but one wonders what the hell the people of England are making of its story as it previews on those foreign shores? Largely because it’s a co-production between the National Theatre, Out of Joint and the Royal National Theatre. So I phoned the director, Max Stafford-Clarke to find out.

“It is a play that has specific Irish references but the Bolton audience last night, certainly got the inference of Hinterland very clearly,” he responds, agreeing that some of these “references” which are “in the pubic domain” will lead Irish audiences to conclude it is actually a play about Charles Haughey.

“But it’s actually like a Eugene O’Neill play – a play about a family saga. And it doesn’t directly refer to Haughey or any named politicians. Yet the family is the family of a man who has been Taoiseach, so it is specific in that sense.”

And is Max hoping Charlie will come along to the opening night?

“I’d love him to see it at an appropriate moment, thought whether the first night would be right, I’m not so sure.”

But is Hinterland critical of the political career of this Taoiseach or is it the kind of drama which evokes sympathy for the main Shakespearean character?

“I would say it is provocative, you go in and out of sympathy with the main character throughout the course of the evening,” Max responds. “He is, of course, at a point in his life when he is trying to a good man and trying to be a good father. And who is aware of some of the damage he’s caused, in his family, in particular. And he is addressing that. But whether or not he is successful in doing so, you’ll have to wait until opening night to find out!”

But what kind of damage has this Taoiseach done to his family? Damaged, say, his daughters and sons or the wife by having a mistress?

“Yes, to the wife by having a mistress. And to the son, who’s had a breakdown at a difficult time.”

In other words, Hinterland reflects all the consequences of a wayward life.

“And the consequences of a macho male and the damage he can cause to a family if he puts his eye on other things rather than the family.”

Which means, yes, that the play could apply to any of us.

“Absolutely. And people here in Bolton have been intrigued by the fact that this is a family drama, at that level. They’ve been aware there are political references and a coded message about a Taoiseach but the familial tensions are – certainly here in Britain, as I say – sufficiently strong to keep these audiences totally engaged.”

So might “macho” women learn similar lessons from this play?

“Maybe!” says Max, laughing. “Though the women in this play are, I suppose, defined by their relationship with Silvester.”

And as for the over-riding moral message politicians in particular may take from this play. Well, Max Stafford-Clarke says what he hopes they will take away is the “lesson that power does corrupt” and that “absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

That said, the director of Hinterland also stresses “this is a funny play, it’s not all darkness and a family saga!” Either way, Max must be nervous about the opening night in Dublin?

“Yes” he says. “But not so much the Press night because they are usually the same everywhere. Yet we are very anxious about how Irish audiences will respond.”

So Max will be keeping his eyes open for Special Branch men?

“I do that all the time, Joe!”