Doherty throws the kitchen sink at radio play

The pulse hardly quickened at the thought of a visit to the Townhall Cavan for Philip Doherty’s 'Dad in the Kitchen’ radio play. Should you not have it on the radio or and I’ll listen to it on playback? Wrong, wrong, wrong.
A good radio play can pique your imagination, a so-so piece could meander along in the background, but the cleverness of Doherty’s production is that it simply demands your full, undivided attention.
This is no mere radio play, it’s a time warp. The loving detail that went into the set design (Joe Doherty), and the intelligent use of both lighting (Paul Farnan) and soundtrack (Robbie Perry) - in fact there’s even a smell-track - all tickle the senses in their own way to help teleport the audience back to 1991.
The 'kitchen sink drama’ centres on a daft childhood recollection of a young boy as he and his father are left to fend for their own stomachs while the mother, Maureen, heads off on an ICA day trip (although this comes as a surprise to the self-absorbed Da, you suspect the mother’s absence wasn’t unannounced). The culinary crisis that unfolds is hammed up for all its worth, and the comic tension is topped off with a fittingly manic soundtrack.
Doherty’s writing is as alive as ever, rhythmic, witty, and joyous. Perched on a kitchen stool you can almost visualise the comedy unfold for the invisible characters.
Smuggled beneath the giggles and the nostalgia induced by the exquisitely decorated set, you suspect Doherty’s half-doffing his cap to the many generations of selfless mammies whose domestic work was taken for granted and whose lives were subservient to the needs self-obsessed, quietly pathetic alpha and beta males. One ludicrous cry of despair from the father character to do with a butter dish echoed a pet hate of my own father’s (who was equally inept in the kitchen as Doherty’s character), and I surprised myself by guffawing out loud despite sitting totally alone in the room on a Thursday morning. Obviously the experience would be much more enjoyable with the communal recognition of a packed kitchen - it holds up to a dozen.
So grab your parents, nearest sibling, great aunt, family dog and the next door neighbours and head along for a short play that’s dazzling in its silliness. Phil Doherty’s new theatre piece 'Dad in the Kitchen’ runs until Friday, October 14 on the hour daily Monday – Saturday from 10am. See Townhallcavan.ie for times. Admission is €5.