I would have thought it takes courage or a warped sense of humour to reduce the history of Northern Ireland's troubles since 1969 into a 90-minute show for stand-up comedians.
But The History of the Troubles, written by Martin Lynch together with the comedy duo Conor Grimes and Alan McKee, comes to London armed with the approval of that conventional newspaper the Belfast Telegraph, which applauds the show as "a laugh a minute".
So perhaps the idea of treating the Troubles irreverently, as more a laughing matter than a crying shame, will delight Kilburn's Irish, working-class Catholics rather than irritate them. But the lumbering triviality of Lynch's superficial trawl through Northern Ireland's
awful, recent history left me unaffected and unamused.
The History of the Troubles (Accordin' to my Da'), as the full title has it, views Northern Ireland through an oldfashioned, end-of-the-pier perspective. The basic humour, from the lips of Grimes and McKee in varied roles and attitudes, is dispatched with jovial, bovine relish, but never assumes shocking or seriously mocking proportions. Haemorrhoids, and Grimes's silly hospital porter with a lisp and nose for foul smells, serve as running or limping jokes, while masturbation and women's breasts, or rather the lack of them in Long Kesh, come in for broad smirks of humour.
Wit appears quite beyond Mr Lynch's range. Northern Ireland's history of murder, intimidation, riots and violence stirred by seething, mutual hatred of Protestants and the Catholic minority, not to mention internment, hunger strikes and no-go barricades, all pass in the flash and dash of one-liners and feeble situation comedy.
David Craig's weird stagedesign consists of a wall of pictures. It serves as a back-cloth for scenes from the life of Gerry Courtney (Ivan Lyttle), these vignettes mirroring Northern Ireland's story. Courtney, an ordinary Belfast Catholic and Rolling Stones fan, is first seen in 1969, awaiting his son's birth, and lastly in 2003, with grief for his son's murder assuaged by the arrival of his first grandchild. Lyttle acts with a sensitivity and sensibility this raucous revue scarcely deserves.
Until 28 June. Box office: 020 7328 1000.
The History Of The Troubles (According To My Da)
