Disco Pigs Review: An intense and powerful performance I won't forget for a long time 

When Disco Pigs was first performed on stage in Cork in 1996, it was met with much acclaim and launched the careers of writer Enda Walsh and actors Cillian Murphy and Eileen Walsh. A film adaptation followed in 2001.

I was too young to see that original performance three decades ago, and while I knew of the basic premise of the story, and the groundbreaking nature of the play, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I took my seat at The Everyman last week to see the 30th anniversary production of the show.

Disco Pigs centres on two teens, Pig and Runt, as they approach adulthood. They are both living in ‘Pork City’, share the same birthday and speak the same secret language. That city, and its secret language, is one that is intrinsicly Cork with a nod to Roy Keane, Tanora, The Echo, and Sonia O’Sullivan.

To be clear, this isn’t a nostalgic, classic coming of age story though, but rather a gritty insight into two complicated characters whose lives have become entangled and contorted.

Directed by Enda Walsh himself for the very first time, this iteration of the production saw Séamus McLean Ross and Aoise Meaney take on the roles of Pig and Runt, originally played by Cillian and Eileen.

The intense opening scenes, bringing us back to the birth of Pig and Runt, set the tone for what was to come over the following 85 minutes. That story is one that brought the audience on a journey which at times felt like they were getting a front row view into a typical teenage experience (think of the joy of chips at the end of the night out), but at other times was uncomfortable, violent, and deeply unsettling.

The staging, sound, lighting, and costumes all added to the drama, and the tension in the audience was palpable at times.

Any play with just two characters is a challenge for any actor, but serious credit is due to Séamus and Aoise for maintaining the energy needed to bring the credibility to the roles of Pig and Runt, whose characters moved between being intensely violent and manic, to raw and honest, absolutely absurd, and every other emotion in between. My only criticism is that, at times, such was the intensity, that some of the dialogue was difficult to understand.

When I sat down to watch Disco Pigs last week, I did so without having borne witness to that original staging 30 years ago, and without having anything to compare it to. I wonder what it must have been like to see those characters come to life in a Cork that has changed in many ways from then.

For me, this stage 30 years later stood up as a powerful production in its own right, and one I won’t forget for a long time to come.

The Everyman’s production of Disco Pigs continues until Saturday, November 14. For tickets see https://everymancork.com/