An electric revival of Billy Roche’s portrait of masculinity in crisis, 1988 style

A Handful of Stars at Wexford Arts Centre until June 16 and then Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire, June 18–22

Michael Power (Stapler) and Dermot Murphy (Jimmy Brady) in A Handful of Stars.

Katy Hayes

According to the programme, this Four Rivers production is the first ever revival of A Handful of Stars in Ireland. Billy Roche’s portrait of out-of-control male youth premiered in London’s Bush Theatre in 1988 and established the writer’s reputation. It’s a startling play full of raw emotion but couched in a lyrical poetic gloss.

We meet angry young man Jimmy Brady, hanging out in the local snooker hall, on a path to destruction. It digs into his psyche looking for an explanation but has the wisdom to find none. His pent-up frustration is left mysterious; it is for the audience to figure out. Is it simply Wexford that is suffocating him? Is the problem that he has large ambition in a small place? Was he just born bad like his father before him?