Ulster American at Riverside Studios

Not seen on the UK stage since 2005, Hollywood star Woody Harrelson chooses blacker-than-black comedy Ulster American to mark his return. Fittingly, he portrays Jay, the Hollywood star in this satirical three-hander about the coming together of a playwright, director and actor. They plan on staging Ruth’s play about Northern Ireland, which could potentially transform all their careers. However, it soon transpires they are not exactly working in accord with one another. Ignorance and misunderstandings abound about what the play is about. The pleasantries pass quickly as the three explode into arguments, revealing their true colours in the process. While Jay and director Leigh claim to be feminist men with open minds, it takes the sole female of the piece to blow this gross misperception out of the water.

Playing Leigh is Andy Serkis. It follows a more than two-decade absence from the stage. Completing the cast as Ruth is Louisa Harland. The Derry Girls star reunites with Harrelson after appearing in his feature film Lost in London. Penned by David Ireland, the play premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2018 to many a glowing review and many an audience gasp.

The laughs come quickly with Leigh mistaking the black American author and civil rights activist James Baldwin for one of Alec Baldwin’s brothers. It immediately establishes the idea of these characters living in their own oblivious worlds. At times one senses Ireland is simply mining for shocked reactions. He certainly gets them with an especially dark segment about Princess Diana. Beneath it all though lie pertinent issues of feminism and gender roles. The #metoo movement, nationalism as well as the fallout of Brexit are also examined to different degrees, while a meta element allows the play to poke fun at the fragility and sometimes sheer silliness of creatives. Theatre critics do not escape with Jay at one point claiming the only thing he would like to read by one is a suicide note! Ouch.

From the off, Harrelson showcases stellar comedic abilities with an energetic performance. As the self-absorbed actor, he floats around the room, plays the piano at random and suddenly meditates when he is not agreed with. Frequently discarding things in Leigh’s vase rather than depositing them in the bin is one of many humorous details. His proud proclamations about being a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, clearly forgetting the anonymous part, also bring in the laughs. It’s Harrelson at his comedic best, demonstrating some remarkable physicality and clearly having a ball.

Serkis excels as the exasperated director who panders to his Hollywood star’s every whim and fancy. After all, with the unrehearsed play already sold out because of the big name, he cannot afford to lose him. While Harrelson is suitably larger-than-life, Serkis serves as an ideal comedic contrast. Endeavouring to contain his anger, several tirades about Brexit see Leigh finally tear off his polite façade, to great comic effect. Harland brings the two men back down to earth. Her transition from being awe-struck to repulsed by Jay is beautifully done. It’s in the climax that the performer displays her sheer versatility, flitting from raw emotion to physical violence.

Strong writing is all about set-up and payoff. Ireland ensures there is a great deal of this throughout and it mostly works well with only a few of the gags falling flat. It is apt that Ruth enthuses about Quentin Tarantino at the start of the play only for Leigh to dismiss his work as childish gratuitous violence. The climax then sees our characters turn (even more) childish and violent. It’s a drastic shift in tone that has echoes of Martin McDonagh. Well executed by the cast, these final moments render us repulsed while also managing to pull in some last laughs – no mean feat. Many might still be aching from laughter after the curtain call. Some will view this as a problematic play. Others will see it as meeting the brief of what theatre sets out to do: challenge.

Jonathan Marshall

Ulster American is at Riverside Studios from 4^th December until 27^th January 2024. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.