Spotless review: A peculiar fathering crisis drama turns fascinating thriller

In Gary Duggan's new play, a seemingly transparent young man works his way into the affections of two women. Photo: Keith Dixon 

Civic Theatre, Dublin

★ ★ ★ ★

Apart from views of the same old Dublin neighbourhood, sheeny with signs of gentrification, what ties together the two characters of Gary Duggan’s new play?

On one hand we have Jenny (Emma Willis), an ambitious and wary teenager speaking from her council flat, determined to conquer the Leaving Cert and leave a mark on the world. Across from her Genevieve (Ciara O’Callaghan), a married woman working as a court clerk, lives at the bottom of a wineglass in a postcode she’s not accustomed to.

The contrasts between class differences and opportunities are inevitable. (“I’m sure that girl has seen things,” says Genevieve, with presumption). But this resourceful coproduction by Rise Productions and Then This Theatre, in association with Smock Alley, The Civic and The Everyman, has less obvious twists in store. Told in interceding narratives, the two women’s stories overlap in bittersweet ways. A teenager’s thrilling first kiss at a house party, for instance, is placed alongside an older woman’s struggles with infertility. 

Such exploits and surrenders are meticulously shown by director Aoife Spillane-Hinks, as Denis Clohessy’s elegantly troubling music introduces darker shades. You’d think these somewhat ordinary lives are in danger. 

Indeed, both women have grown close to Dean, a seemingly transparent young man we only see in half-light. Listenable and approachable, he finds his way into their affections, the duality of Duggan’s script allowing him to two-time them. A zoo-date where he intimately embraces Genevieve gets interrupted by his pleasant stroll with Jenny. 

As Genevieve’s thoughts flick from a court case involving a psychologically abusive husband, and Jenny uses her accountancy lessons to try add things up, both seem to be in a race to expose Dean’s treachery. But this villain turns out to be quite unconventional. Despite his youth, he’s already passionate about having his own children to pass a legacy down to.

This peculiar fathering crisis is an unlikely basis for a thriller, yet it goes interesting places. Later on, at a drug-tripping disco, we may find Genevieve under the spell of her manipulator, but in O’Callaghan’s effervescent performance we also have the pleasure of seeing her escape her daily anguish. 

Elsewhere, there’s an abortion scene without suspicion, a sign of the changing times. 

Yes, Dean’s manipulations are sometimes repetitive, and the dialogue can be overly technical, but the play succeeds in drawing its revelations towards a worthwhile conclusion. During a police investigation into a strange death, one individual's statement seems to easily convince: “They hung around with a rough sort”. People belonging to a certain class can be forgotten easier than others.  

Touring Smock Alley Theatre from Apr 22nd-27th.