Miasma

Niamh McGrath, Jack Gavin, Robbie O'Connor, Peter Rothwell and Karl Quinn in Miasma. Photo Carol Cummins

****

You might find yourself harbouring misguided reservations about Colin Murphy's historical drama Miasma. A touring production of one night stands, in primarily non-theatrical venues, it risks evoking tourist encounters like the Edinburgh Dungeons or Ghost Walks. Performers in period costume reenacting historical events in real world spaces designed to educate, entertain and illuminate. In a sense, you'd be right, but very wrong if you left it there. Murphy’s mesmeric cyclone exploring the life of Dr. John Snow also presenting as a cracking medical thriller. One that, if it suffers durational drag at times, is fashioned into a rollercoaster of tensions courtesy of a commanding cast and a stellar director.

First some background. A period of unprecedented industrial advance, the early days of Queen Victoria's reign were plagued by a series cholera outbreaks decimating London’s poverty stricken areas. Politicians and scientists operating under the belief that fumes from cesspits created a miasma that induced cholera when breathed in. Snow, unconvinced, shifted his studies from the benefits of ether as an anaesthetic to tracking down the root cause of the disease. Portrayed as an unsophisticated, rough around the edges Yorkshire man, Robbie O’Connor’s Snow embodies tenacity and unerring practicality in his unrelenting search for the truth. Ridiculed and dismissed by well meaning reformers and scientists, like Karl Quinn’s impassioned Chadwick, Peter Rothwell’s smug Chancellor and Jack Gavin’s gormless Prime Minister, Snow gathers more and more evidence with the help of Rev. Henry Whitehead. Till truth is dragged, reluctantly, into the light. It being several years after Snow’s death before his contribution to eradicating cholera was properly acknowledged.

Robbie O'Connor and Peter Rothwell in Miasma. Photo Carol Cummins

As with Stephen Brown’s Dr Semmelweis, whose recent London run saw Mark Rylance play the eponymous doctor ridiculed for theorising that doctors should sterilise their hands, Murphy shows astute understanding of Victorian history, its medical prejudices and its conflicting moral attitudes. Context established post-haste as cast hurriedly enter and deliver a whirlwind of historical details in period costume. Details frequently updated by Niamh McGrath’s narrator, the token woman in a Victorian man’s world presented as the most advanced, most humane society whilst its poor festered in subhuman conditions. Short, sharp scenes referencing historical moments, including the Irish Famine of 1848, highlight the abuses of early stage capitalism brought about by the industrial revolution. In which the average life span for the working class was sixteen, many dying during regular cholera outbreaks leading to heated debates on how to address the problem, including a sewage system emptying into the Thames. Murphy’s richly detailed investigation honouring his primary and secondary sources. Perhaps to a fault. History always problematic when framed as a dramatic narrative. Though Murphy gets it mostly right, relying on rapid fire sentences and impressive economy. Still, faithfulness to the chronology of historical fact creates durational and rhythmic drag occassionally. The punch of art’s truths softened in the service of historical and scientific fact. Art and science looking like comfortable bedfellows in the early stages of a loving relationship. In which occasionally strained tensions and imbalances of power suggest they might benefit from a romantic weekend away.

Throughout, Samantha Cade’s undulant direction unleashes the energies in Murphy’s dense, percussive text. Yet pace reveals a screenplay structure masquerading as a play. Short, frantic scenes rushing past might create tension, but they hamper cohesion for information coming too hard and fast in places. Not helped by less than ideal acoustics in venues like the suitably athmospheric Royal College of Physicians, along with action being played in the round. Several passages proving hard to hear making engagement inconsistent. Focus compensated by Sorcha Ní Fhlionn’s period costumes and Carl Kennedy's understated musical scoring. Viko Nikci’s lighting cleverly working with, rather than against the space. A challenge sure to repeat itself given the number of non-theatrical venues ahead.

Robbie O'Connor in Miasma. Photo Carol Cummins

With characters confined to short snippets, a first grade cast is needed to render credible life. Cade clearly knows how to cast. Robbie O'Connor as John Snow turning in a terrifically detailed, tensely present performance. O’Connor’s ability to wholly invest himself suggesting he’s not acting so much as channelling hungry, curious spirits. Expressions, gestures, and inflections steeped in character rich detail full of endless nuance. Even if Ní Fhlionn’s costume exaggerates Snow’s Yorkshire heritage over his medical professionalism. O’Connor ably sported by a superb cast playing several roles, with relative newbie, Peter Rothwell, announcing themselves as an exciting young talent to watch. Director Cade whipping up a whirlwind of choreographic fluency, making use of every angle, every inch of space, every pause and beat till the experience feels palpable. Cade’s detailed understanding of composition, matched by an understanding of how to get the best from her cast, confirming Cade as one of our most exciting directors.

Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens; the Victorian era saw many artistic talents come to prominence. Similarly in science, where seasoned specialists and gifted amateurs broke new ground in a variety of fields. Yet many, both men and women, often found fame denied, their achievements dismissed, or credit for their achievements stolen. History correcting itself, and its crimes decades later. Miasma speaking both to history and today, illuminating a past that foreshadowed the experiences of Covid. If Miasma wraps everything up a little bit too quickly, it's still a rollicking good show. Originally produced by ANU in 2022, this revised revival presented by Verdant Productions makes for compelling theatre. A tale without obvious villains so much as competing notions of right and righteousness, Miasma marries science and art, the clinical and human, in gripping union. One that speaks to hope, even against the most daunting odds. Of our ever stumbling path towards enlightenment Of the joys of intelligent, enjoyable theatre.

Miasma by Colin Murphy, presented by Versant Productions, is currently on tour.

Royal College of Physicians, Dublin: Tuesday 14 – Thursday 16 April @ 1.00pm and 6.00pm

Larkin Community College (Champions Ave, North City, Dublin): Mon 20th April @ 10:50am

Sean O’Casey Theatre, East Wall: Tues 21^st April @ 12.00pm and 2.30pm 

Research Ireland (3 Park Place, Hatch St Upr., Dublin 2): Thursday 23 April @ 12.30pm

Town Hall Bray: Thursday 23 April @ 8.00pm 

Royal College Surgeons: Friday 24^th April @ 1.00pm and 6.00pm 

James Joyce Centre, Dublin: Tuesday 28 April @ 1.00pm 

Dunamaise Arts Centre. Portlaoise: Wednesday 29 April @ 8.00pm 

James Joyce Centre, Dublin: Thursday 30 April @ 11.00am and 1.00pm 

Garter Lane Theatre, Waterford: Saturday 2 May @ 8.00pm 

Trap Door Theatre at UCD: Tuesday 5 May @ 1.00pm and 6.00pm 

The Venue, Ratoath: Wed 6^th May @ 11.00am and 1.00pm 

Tallaght Hospital, Dublin: Thursday 7 May @ 7.00pm 

Royal Irish Academy, Dublin: Friday 8 May @ 1.00pm and 6.00pm 

For more information visit Verdant Productions