REVIEW | Fun Home, Gate Theatre Dublin

Image Ros Kavanagh

★ ★ ★ ★

Reviewer - Kirsty

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Fun Home, the Tony-winning musical based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic autobiographical novel of the same name, is currently playing its Irish premiere at Dublin’s Gate Theatre starring West End star Killian Donnelly.

Fun Home tells the story of Alison Bechdel (who is a critically acclaimed cartoonist) and the relationship with her father Bruce (played by Donnelly), and we see Alison at varying ages, with adult Alison (played by Frances McNamee) acting as the omniscient narrator.

“After the sudden death of her father, graphic novelist Alison is forced to confront long-hidden familial secrets that come to light. Fun Home features Alison both past and present: her memories as a child playing in the family’s funeral home merge with her time as a college student coming out and finding first love, and her adult life as a successful graphic novelist.”

We discover that there are secrets in the Bechdel family, and the score written by Jeanne Tesori brings the audience on an emotional journey alongside Alison and Bruce which shows the internal and external battles of coming to terms with being part of the LGBTQ+ community in a different time.

As well as the truly exceptional McNamee, Alison is also played by Orla Scally, who plays Medium Alison who we see navigating her discovery of her own sexuality and dealing with the fallout from the actions of her father. Medium Alison is definitely the most melancholic of the three Alisons, due in part to the uncertainty she is living through. Her nervousness of falling in love with the sexually confident Joan (played by Jade Kennedy) is palpable and at times it is hard to feel a strong connection to Medium Alison, however, Scally played the role admirably.

Small Alison is the heart of the three Alison’s and Jodi Kaye was wonderful on the night I saw the show and her and McNamee’s rendition of ‘Ring of Keys’ was beautiful. McNamee was effortless as Alison and given that she was rarely off stage, her stage presence was exceptional and her performance in  ‘This is what I have of you …’ was one of the emotional highlights of the show. We also meet Alison’s brothers John and Christian (played by Seán O’Callaghan and Harley Cullen Walsh), and there is no doubt that the truly funniest moments in the show were when the three children were together, especially in the songs ‘Come to the Fun Home’ and ‘Welcome to Our House on Maple Avenue’ gave some well needed comic relief. 

Killian Donnelly, played Bruce Bechdel with every possible range of emotion that we are used to seeing Donnelly give to audiences, however as Bruce he played him with a level of simmering anger which blew to the surface on occasions and even when he was being more vulnerable with Alison, you never saw him as the perfect father. Anyone who has seen Donnelly perform will know that he has a vocal range for days, however, his performance of ‘Edges of the World’ gave me goosebumps and should this version ever come to the West End, this could finally give Donnelly his Olivier award.

The book written by Lisa Kron is handled admirably however I do feel that the book marginalises characters such as Helen Bechdel (played by Nichola MacEvilly) and Joan which is such a shame, and even though we learn early in the show what happens to Bruce, I didn’t feel any real emotion when the denouement of Bruce’s story happens. These issues are nothing to do with the production, as this is how I have felt seeing the show before at London’s Young Vic.

Paul Will’s Set Design was perfect for the intimate venue and worked in tandem with Neil O’Driscoll’s Video and Projection Design which showed the audience the key moments of Alison’s life as she draws them into the story she is telling. 

With Donnelly and McNamee leading this cast effortlessly, the weaker points of the show don’t seem so important however we are left feeling so sad for Alison and the loss of her relationship with her father.

Fun Home tells an important story of discovery and acceptance which I think audiences need to hear more than ever right now and I have everything crossed for an eventual London transfer. 

Fun Home is currently playing at Dublin’s Gate Theatre and runs until September 1.