OUR NEW GIRL at the LYRIC THEATRE, BELFAST on the 10th of April 2025

 

OUR NEW GIRL at the LYRIC THEATRE, BELFAST on the 10th of April 2025

 

Written by Nancy Harris

Directed by Rhiann Jeffrey

Lisa Dwyer Hogg as Hazel, Canice Doran as Daniel, Jeanne Nicole ni Ainlie as Annie (L - R)

Our New Girl is a slick new production by the Lyric Theatre.  The production values hint at the broader strokes of cinema.  The trees behind the house change constantly while the action inside is almost static.  Boxes filled with Sicilian olive oil turn up on the doorstep, in fact one of the play’s sub plots is how to get rid of the stuff.  While this is resolved, a nanny turns up on the doorstep.  Like Mary Poppins or Mrs Baylock in The Omen, there is no sign that any external agency has contracted her, so she just stays.  Why not?

Lisa Dwyer Hogg as Hazel, Mark Huberman as Richard


Although the play is static, virtually eventless and set in the kitchen of a plush house in London, the action and dialogue were never boring.  It moves relentlessly onwards to its climax when the characters and audiences’ incredulity is once more stretched to breaking point.  Mark Huberman is excellent as Richard as is Lisa Dwyer Hogg as Hazel.  The seamless effects of sound and lighting design merge effortlessly into suturing us into the drama.  Without a murmur we leave the theatre entertained.

Milo Payne as Daniel, Lisa Dwyer Hogg as Hazel (L - R)


Our New Girl seems to aim at a greater coherence, eschewing some of the local themes of native playwrights such as sectarian conflict which we have become used to over the years.  The play is a refreshing departure from a blueprint that has become tired.

Jeanne Nicole ni Ainlie as Annie


Paul Murphy, Lyric Theatre, Belfast

Lisa Dwyer Hogg as Hazel


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