Cell (Re:Play 2010) – Library Theatre, Manchester

Writer: Aillis Ni Ryan

Director: Paula Simms

Reviewer:Katherine Kirwin

The Public Reviews Rating:

Cell is an intense and disturbing look into a day of a bright but disturbed young Irishman who is living as a recluse in his bedroom in his parent’s house, with an imaginary alter-ego questioning each of his decisions. He has not left his bedroom for two years and the only company he has is the voice of his alter-ego. We see his mother delivering his meals to outside his door, and her desperate attempts to connect with her son and keep him connected to the real world through her daily updates.

There were no programme notes available with this play so I am unable to name each of the actors in Cell, however, it is worth saying that Cell is a tour-de-force of strong dramatic performances from every actor involved. I have never been so engrossed in watching someone consume a hard-boiled egg, or doing star jumps, but I found myself unable to tear my eyes away from the performance of Hickey as he attempts to fill his reclusive day. The minutia of his daily life is absorbing and was performed as if it was as important as Shakespeare, which made it feel that important to the audience. The physical performance of Hickey was stunning, his jawline and the tension in his neck looked like it expressed every emotion he had ever felt in his life.

The performance of his mother(actress unknown) was the strongest of the show in my opinion. her quiet desperation and how she told the sadness of her life through her eyes whilst trying to maintain a cheery voice outside Hickey’s door was one the best performances I have seen this year. However, it must be said that there was not much content to Cell, the force behind it was the strength of the individual performances, obviously revealing a strong characterisation in the script. Yet there was no actual revelation of the reason behind Hickey’s retreat from civilisation which would have been dramatically interesting, and the conclusion was very open-ended where we were left unsure as to whether Hickey had left his bedroom or whether his alter-ego had abandoned him.

And yet, I loved it, it was strong, gripping, powerful and yes, I left filled with questions as to what the hell was it about, but why should that be a bad thing?