Last year Kate Mulvany’s play ‘The Seed’ was part of Belvoir’s experimental B Sharp program. This year it made it to the main stage as part of Company B’s main subscription program.
Based on Kate’s own life, ‘The Seed’ is about three generations of the Maloney family reuniting after thirty years. Brian (Martin Vaughan)- a stoic and devout IRA soldier, Danny (Danny Adcock), his Vietnam veteran son, and Rose (Kate Mulvany), his granddaughter- a 30 year old Australian writer desperately trying to report the repercussions of the war in order to escape her own scars. The three come together in the old country for what starts out as a celebration but which turns into a bit of a battlefield when certain things are revealed.
This was a very emotional, honest piece of theatre. Mulvany’s writing and the co-direction of Neil Armfield and Iain Sinclair hit their mark without ever being extreme. Mulvany has her own personal scars as a result of her familys’ war involvements. The play’s search for the truth leads to a dramatic climax.
Martin Vaughan gave a striking performance as the bitter, cantankerous grandfather who isn’t the figure of strength that he claims to be. Danny Adcock, a tremendous dramatic actor, was great as Danny. Mulvany played ‘herself’, a searching spirit, determined to get a handle on her life.
