Mydidae

Mydidae, the professional directorial debut of recent Drama graduate Rhiann Jeffrey, brings Emma Jordan's Prime Cut production company back to the stage for the first time since February's God Of Carnage.

The first of two stark explorations of the human condition from the company this autumn, Jack "Skins" Thorne's play makes its Irish Premiere in the most suitable of locations: the MAC's upstairs auditorium, where an alternately open and claustrophobic atmosphere hangs over both audience and characters.

Combine this with strong performances, cutting dialogue and a generally intense setting, and you have a powerful and passionate theatrical experience.

The title of Mydidae - "a family of flies" - is revelatory, both of the audience's point of view and the bathroom in which the entire play takes place. We are literally given a "fly on the wall" insight into a place which can be both secretive and open: where people can let their hair down and unveil otherwise covert aspects of their lives and their nature. And the more heated the individuals, the more dramatic the actions and revelations promise to be.

David (the quietly temperamental Matthew Forsythe) and Marian (the excellent Julie Maxwell) are a man and a woman united by their volatile, physical personalities and divided by ambitions and priorities.

To argue that David and Marian are the perfect imperfect couple, the epitome of dysfunction in a less sensationalist and more grounded version of David Fincher's adaptation of "Gone Girl", would offer an inkling of what goes on, but it would not do justice to the story.

When watching a worn down, bloated Marian attempting to teach herself French, and a hyperactive David focusing on his business deals - thanks to the power of smart phones! - one believes that the latter is already educated while the former is trying to be more educated. The reality is that Mydidae will be a valuable education for both characters in many ways.

The couple's conversations in the first half of the play, deemed inconsequential by both David and Marian, are deliciously funny and random, indicative of their irritation with their lives and one another. If sharing random facts, likes and dislikes is their best way of connecting, what on earth are they still together for? It's a question both are surely pondering, but in the larger scheme of things, the whats of their past are less important than the hows and the whys in their attempt to resolve inner and outer conflicts.

And it is Jack Thorne's willingness to be so frank and pointed, along with Rhiann Jeffrey's assured direction, that sets Mydidae apart. Thorne clearly loves symbols and themes, and Jeffrey plays them up for all they are worth, especially when Marian and David expose themselves both physically and personally to the sound of The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown and Bill Withers respectively. Image is unleashed and stress is briefly released through the power of music and lyrics.

Before long, the couple share a bath, glasses of wine and affably toned conversations. Conversations that threaten to drag... until a pair of revelations, one seemingly more important than the other, virtually turn Mydidae on its head, temporarily transforming the play from generally frivolous to genuinely frightening. Without going into details, the timing of the dialogue and actions is truly unprecedented and ultimately more revealing than ever: it is apparent by now that David and Marian are close enough to share but too distant to relate. What will the consequences mean for both? Will they find the "new beginning" they are looking for? Perhaps they deserve one another.

Whatever happens to David and Marian, by Mydidae's end it is certainly clear to we "flies on the wall" that the universally accepted problems of these troubled people amount to so much more than a hill of beans in the crazy world we live in.

Mydidae runs at The MAC until October 25 as part of the Ulster Bank Belfast International Arts Festival. For more information, go to themaclive.com.