Good with Faces, playing at Summerhall, comes from award-winning writer and director OisÃn Kearney who did so well with his play My Left Nut. It’s a gripping two-hander and delivers genuine emotional power alongside superb performances, even if its central premise ultimately strains credulity.
The play opens on a simple living room set complete with a camera rigged up. A mother has agreed to be filmed while being interviewed by a social worker. The awkward exchanges, where tentative jokes and misunderstandings miss their mark, are expertly played to maximise excruciating discomfort, drawing uneasy laughs from the audience. The first half is a masterclass in writing, gradually unpacking the dynamic between the two protagonists as Patrick McBrearty and Clodagh Mooney Duggan act up a storm. As the situation unfolds, we realise an incident has occurred and that the mother may not be as reliable as she initially appears, and the story she has built, her confidence and her credibility gradually collapse until she is making desperate bargains.
However, the plot of Good with Faces is based upon flawed research. Anyone familiar with child protection protocols will recognise that this is not how a concern is investigated initially and it’s certainly not how a social worker operates. Resources simply wouldn’t be deployed for a single minor incident alongside one historical incident. Because of this, I found I couldn’t engage with the perceived threat that builds, namely that of a child being removed. While further revelations do raise legitimate questions, the social worker’s behaviour feels unfeasible for someone in such a heavily vetted field.
The climax of Good with Faces is undeniably well-directed, cleverly staged, and features impressive special makeup effects. Yet it ultimately feels melodramatic, opening a floodgate of complex trauma that a short play cannot adequately address. Rather than feeling earned, the harrowing finale comes across as manipulative, relying on theatrical sensationalism over meaningful exploration.
Listings and ticket information can be found hereÂ
