Friendships are not often afforded the same dramatic weight as romantic relationships on stage. Eva O’Connor’s For Dolores makes a compelling case that perhaps they should be. Playing at the Traverse and directed by Jim Culleton, this engrossing two-hander explores a friendship that is every bit as consuming, complicated and destructive as any love affair.
From the moment the play opens in a therapist’s office, there is a sense that something has already gone wrong. The framing device immediately suggests a relationship in crisis, and what follows is a gradual unpicking of how two women who once seemed inseparable reached this point.
The audience are laughing almost immediately, much of it coming from the cultural friction between Scottish and Irish identities, though the humour always carries a sharper edge beneath it. O’Connor’s writing is wonderfully naturalistic, with dialogue that feels lived in rather than carefully constructed.
As Mo and RéaltÃn, Catriona Faint and Lara McDonnell are exceptional. Faint gives Mo a restless energy, as though she is permanently seconds away from either laughing or exploding. Defensive humour masks deeper vulnerabilities, but crucially the character never becomes simply “the difficult one”. Opposite her, McDonnell’s RéaltÃn initially appears softer and steadier, yet gradually reveals layers of strength, self-interest and complexity. Neither woman is presented as hero or villain, and the play is far richer for it.
Their chemistry is the production’s greatest asset. Tiny shifts in eye contact, physical proximity and moments of silence reveal as much as the dialogue itself. Watching the balance of power repeatedly shift between them becomes quietly fascinating, with years of shared history feeling entirely believable.
The non-linear structure occasionally compresses large stretches of time, but it remains easy enough to follow. Flashbacks accumulate rather than merely explain, while revelations are carefully withheld until they can have the greatest emotional impact. The therapy scenes, which could easily have become a gimmick, instead develop into some of the play’s most emotionally charged confrontations.
Supported by confident direction, subtle design work and movement that turns friendship into a dance of attraction and resistance, For Dolores builds towards an ending that resists easy catharsis. Some plot turns arrive abruptly and the emotional intensity leaves little room to breathe in the closing stages, but these are minor reservations in an otherwise deeply affecting piece of theatre.
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