Disco Pigs started as a bit of a phenomenon. Lyn Gardner of the Guardian describes how, at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1997, “it didn’t so much debut … as erupt there.” The bar was set high for any and all later productions. How does this one fare? Quite well, I’d say.

Pig and Runt are celebrating their 17th birthday. They have been friends all their lives, since their mammies shared a hospital ward, and have been getting into trouble just as long. Their adventures, real and fantastical, are lived out on a single, cluttered set complete with bewigged mannequins, toy food and a framed portrait of Jesus Our Lord.

The leads in Disco Pigs are more crucial to the potential success of the show than they might be in other productions, considering the nature of the script, and both the intimacy and the whiplash pace that it requires. Everything relies on the actors and their chemistry.

Both leads, Ciarán Owens as Pig and Amy Molloy as Runt, prove capable for the job – their patter is convincing. Offbeat and handsome, Owens has a powerful command of the stage, and translates the tragedy behind / of Pig’s swagger to the stage well. Molloy perhaps takes a little longer to shine, though her impeccable storytelling skills soon become apparent. She’s a delight to listen to. By the play’s close, you will it not to end, just to hear her continue. And the pair’s handling of the multifarious props, toys and trinkets that director Cathal Cleary and designer Chloe Lamford have tasked them with using is impressive. Indeed, the imaginative physicality of the play is always on point here.

Occasionally one or the other is either too quiet, drowned out by background music, or their words are swallowed up in an accent too dense. (Particularly Molloy.) We want authenticity, of course, and the light-speed pacing is essential to make those slower moments soar, but occasionally sense of what’s being said is lost. This coming from both myself, with Irish family, and a real-life born-and-bred Irish person that accompanied me. We both wondered how other patrons less well-versed in Eire might cope.

Invigorating, difficult, and occasionally devastating, this is a production worth seeing. Congratulations to all involved.   ★★★★☆    Will Amott     30th September 2016