Jigsaw

Chris O'Rourke
6 days ago
3 min read

****

The wonderful thing about Lee Coffey’s new play, Jigsaw, is that it’s so utterly exasperating. As likely to be accused of confirming gender and addiction bias as of challenging them. The troubled tale of Jim, a homeless, former addict who, upon meeting his estranged daughter after twenty years, begins a downward spiral when he discovers his mother is dying. Leading to a final, public showdown with his ex-wife as old habits emerge and old wounds are ripped open. Even as everything they’ve ever done was in the name of love, no matter how insane or contradictory. Begging the question what more in the name of love, given love is little more than the blind leading the blinded down a painfully lopsided blame lane. The whole deliciously and cleverly lubricated by the soundtrack to Grease.

Craig Connolly in Jigsaw. Image, John Anderson Jr.

Reminiscent in construction to Coffey’s excellent A Murder of Crows, Jigsaw delivers storytelling theatre made vital and visceral. Structurally leaning into Howie The Rookie, Dublin Old School territory, with cast flipping roles midway, Coffey’s tidy two hander is locked and loaded with rapid fire dialogue defined by economy and precision. Yet there’s a sense, psychologically and thematically, of Jigsaw having bitten off more than it can chew in places. Cocaine addiction surfacing like a one dimensional, cartoon devil villainously tempting by way of a proverbial inner monologue. The depth, nuance and subtlety elsewhere displayed absent when it comes to an addict’s cravings, which rarely present as such a simplistic choice. Compounded by addiction dovetailing with toxic masculine tendencies, especially as Jim deliberately tries never to be toxic or aggressive. Unable to see that violence and abuse don’t have to be physical. Still, it leaves you begging the question is he toxic or just an addict? Either way three generations of women, embodying patriarchal otherness and mothering tendencies, resort to defensive measures against man-child Jim, one in the extreme. Wife Haley’s choice likely to leave the audience divided, depending on your perspective. Ultimately not everything is clear, yet what is clear is that Jigsaw serves up endless, challenging provocations.

When it comes to production and performance, the exasperating thing about Lee Coffey’s latest play, Jigsaw, is that it’s so utterly wonderful. Even if you resent its ambiguous opaqueness, you can’t help but love what you see on stage. Nurtured in Glass Mask’s fail better till you’re brilliant bosom, director Ian Toner does astonishing work in unveiling the narrative’s dark, wounded heart. Composition, pace, performance, all richly detailed and articulated, see Alan Devine and Craig Connolly set the stage alight with two riveting and compelling performances, playing multiple roles whilst alternating the key role of Jim. Andrew Clancy’s scaffold set, evocative of Dublin street life and a metaphor for Jim’s recovery, enriched at times by hit and miss lighting by Cillian O’Donnell.

Craig Connolly and Alan Devine in Jigsaw. Image, John Anderson Jr.

When the curtain falls love changes nothing, excuses nothing and forgives less. As a study of the dynamics of gender and masculinity Jigsaw is at its most unclear, reinforcing notions of the masculine as a childlike singularity needing to protect itself from the feminine, and vice versa, with never the twain finding common ground. Even so, Jim‘s vulnerability offers several salient insights and makes certain gendered invisibilities visible, most notably around blame. As a study of addiction there’s not enough clarity or credibility when it comes to how one person can keep drug use recreational whilst another spirals into addiction. That said, where Jigsaw succeeds is as a series of disturbing, compelling, heartfelt and heartbreaking provocations, ensuring the final line leaves you wondering is it enough, too little, too much? As thought provoking, beautifully executed theatre goes, Jigsaw’s the word. It’s got groove, it’s got meaning. With Devine and Connolly an utter joy to watch, enriched by Toner’s superb direction.