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HOWIE THE ROOKIE
by Mark O'Rowe
Rocket Theatre presents the North West premiere of the multi-award winning play. A haunting, bitter tale that effortlessly scoops you into the dirty dives of Dublin to reveal a feud of honour regarding a scabies-infested mattress and gangland revenge over lost Siamese fighting fish. REVIEWS: Morning Star (2003) - What's on Stage - Manchester Evening News - City Life - Morning Star - Manchester on Stage - This is Lancaster - The Stage. REVIEW - MORNING STAR - 2 Jan 2003 Triumph for O'Rowe at the Library Theatre
BEST PLAY IN MANCHESTER 2002 HOWIE THE ROOKIE Library Theatre IT'S been a good year for the Library Theatre, Manchester, with its Commonwealth Games season and 50th birthday celebrations. The highlight of this amazing 12 months of first-rate entertainment has to be Mark O'Rowe's, Howie the Rookie. Irvine Welsh meets Quentin Tarantino in this gritty, graphic and raw slice of life from the dirty dives of Dublin. Coming from a very real tradition of story telling in Ireland the play takes the form of two highly energetic and sexually explicit monologues, in which just two actors play a myriad larger-than-life characters backed up by an occasional pumping soundtrack. It tells the story of a couple of unemployed, foul-mouthed, drunken misogynists in the form of psychotic The Howie Lee and his archenemy The Rookie Lee who "breaks hearts and hymens." It is a tale of revenge and feuding with a scabby mattress at its heart! There is the 16 stone Avalanche in white ski-pants with "an arse enough for three barstools," whose sexual appetite is insatiable. Plus the fat and sweaty Flann Dingle and Ginger Boy sporting "hair red enough to stop traffic," driving like maniacs around the streets of Dublin in a green minivan. Not forgetting Puddin' Boy, with Downs Syndrome, who packs a mighty punch from a height of six feet. Directed by Martin Harris, the Artistic Director of the seven-year-old Rocket Theatre whose leitmotif is "Play with Fire," Howie the Rookie premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in 1999 to critical acclaim and must now rank among the contemporary classics. This was definitely not theatre for the faint-hearted, yet it had an authenticity that was at once chilling and surprisingly tender. Told in coarse primal Dublin argot, this was blarney of a totally different kind, straight off the streets and aimed for your guts. A real triumph for the Library Theatre. If it ever comes round your way again, don't miss it! REVIEW - WHAT'S ON STAGE - 29th Aug 2002 Two-handers can fall at the first hurdle if both actors don't give it their all. If one performer is stronger, the piece can be very unequal and unsatisfying. I'm pleased to say that's not the case with Howie the Rookie, which boasts not one but two of the most exhilarating performances I've seen on stage in a long time. Padric McIntyre opens the first half of the play as loud, outspoken, brash, humorous hard nut - The Howie Lee. We learn about low life in the fast lane of modern Dublin. Fighting for survival in a world where only the strongest survive, five unforgettable characters take vivid shape through Howie's hilarious monologues. The Rookie Lee (Graeme Hawley) launches Act Two with his tales of flatulence, gangland culture, family loyalty and his terrible dating experiences. What links these two characters is their lust for life on the edge and the shifting loyalties of their ragged gang. From the opening scene, James Anning's superbly realised set, crowned with infested mattress and copious rubbish, drags the audience into the characters' down-and-out world. It's matched for 'filth' by Mark O'Rowe's F-word strewn dialogue, which provides the platform for the audience to gasp as well as laugh and cry. The language is carried magnificently and naturally by two talented performers. McIntyre is perfect as the aggressive, protective leader of the pack. His in-yer-face role-swapping style leaves you with a lasting impression. Hawley, meanwhile, forces the audience to use all of their emotions, pushing them to overload with his convincing facial expressions and physical prowess. The fast-moving sub-plots and quick-fire exchanges keeps everyone on their toes. Each line is fired at the audience with on-target precision. And even if every high-octane anecdote contains a sad twist in the tail, the inevitability of it all doesn't stop you from wishing for a more hopeful future for these two. Howie the Rookie is an energetic piece with plenty of substance beneath its lean exterior. Fast, funny, and full of life - minus the sugar coating. - Glenn Meads. (reviewed at Manchester's Library Theatre)
REVIEW - MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS - 29th Aug 2002 Seamy Side of life in the city.
HOWIE THE ROOKIE Library Theatre ALTHOUGH its hectic pace of productions has slowed down a little from its initial spurt - nine productions in the first six months - the Manchester Evening News Theatre Award-winning Rocket Theatre Company remains true to its objective of producing modern, gritty, sometimes risque and often funny drama. Theirs is a brief that artistic director Martin Harris sums up as "grown-up theatre for grown-up people" and their latest effort certainly fits that description. Written by Dublin writer Mark O'Rowe, Howie The Rookie is a rowdily supercharged trip through the seamy underbelly of modern Dublin. Delivered in the form of two monologues by The Howie Lee (Padraic McIntyre) and his namesake and rival The Rookie Lee (MEN Theatre Award-winning Graeme Hawley) it's an energetic and unexpectedly action-packed piece that's a long way from the cosy image of Ireland that's so often presented on stage and screen. Peopled with colourful characters like the dangerous thug Ladyboy, the 16st love machine Avalanche, the slow-witted Skip Susan and the flame-haired joyrider Ginger Boy, all brought to life by the two actors, it's not shy about violence, casual sex, embarrassing medical afflictions and unpleasant body odour, often using appropriately brutal language, but it can also be laugh-out-loud comic.
- Kevin Bourke.
REVIEW - CITY LIFE - 9th Oct 2002 Howie the Rookie
Pauper's Pit, Buxton, 10-12 October Originally premiered at the Bush theatre, Mark O'Rowe's Howie the Rookie - a scaborous black comedy about two drunken misogynists - has been garlanded with praise and prizes (winning the 1999 George Devine award, amongst others). Rookie has been described as "Trainspotting meets The Weir": Better to describe it as Rumblefish meets Disco Pigs. In a white knuckle ride through the dirty dives of Dublin, it tells of the rivalry between two characters: Psycho tough guy, The Howie Lee, and his arch enemy and self-proclaimed Lothario, The Rookie Lee ("Break hearts and hymens I do."). The former has contracted scabies from a dirty mattress, the latter has accidentally killed two valuable Siamese fighting fish and owes money two their owner, local hood Ladyboy. Their stories are peopled by a troop of larger than life characters: sexually voracious, sixteen stone Avalanche; fat, sweaty Flann Dingle, the essense of stench; and Puddin' Boy, six feet tall, looks inbred. All are linked by a chain of random events which ends with the Howie Lee becoming the unexpected hero of The Rookie's story. The only character's the audience meet are Howie and Rookie - the rest exist in name only. One gets the impression this is a film script thats been turned into a play; no bad thing when it's so explosively energetic. Rocket Theatre's twenty first production is brutal, gritty and blackly funny. Praise to director Martin Harris and actors Padraic McIntyre and Graeme Hawley; this is one night out you won't forget in a hurry.
- Steve Timms.
REVIEW - MORNING STAR - 5th Sept. 2002 Not for the faint-hearted
HOWIE THE ROOKIE The Library Theatre Manchester IRVINE Welsh meets Quentin Tarantino is this gritty, graphic and raw slice of life from the dirty dives of Dublin. Coming from a very real tradition of storytelling in Ireland, the play takes the form of two highly energetic and sexually explicit monologues in which just two actors play a myriad of larger-than-life characters backed up by a pumping soundtrack. The Howie, written by Irish playwright Mark O'Rowe, tells the story of a couple of unemployed, foul-mouthed, drunken misogynists in the form of the psychotic Howie Lee and his arch-enemy The Rookie Lee who "breaks hearts and hymens." It is a tale of revenge and feuding with a scabby mattress at its heart! At times, the effect is rather like nails being scratched across a chalkboard as events unfold with a brutal and gruesome force that knots the stomach. Politically incorrect characters weave their way in and out of a plot that is saturated with tragedy. There is 16-stone Avalanche in white ski-pants with "an arse enough for three barstools" whose sexual appetite is insatiable. Plus the fat and sweaty Flann Dingle and Ginger Boy sporting "Hair red enough to stop traffic" driving like maniacs around the streets of Dublin in a green minivan. Not forgetting Puddin' Boy with Downs Syndrome who packs a mighty punch from a height of six feet. Padraic McIntyre plays the Howie Lee with a dynamism that sends shock waves around the auditorium while Graeme Hawley as The Rookie Lee sweats buckets with a more athletic performance which is no less electrifying. Directed by Martin Harris, the artistic director of the seven year-old Rocket Theatre whose leit motif is "Playing with Fire," The Howie premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in 1999 to critical acclaim and must now rank among the contemporary classics. This is definitely not theatre for the faint-hearted - yet it has an authenticity that is at once chilling and surprisingly tender. Told in coarse Dublin argot, this is blarney of a totally different kind, but don't expect to be sitting around an Irish pub supping a smooth glass of porter. For this is without doubt straight off the streets and aimed for your guts. Go see it if you're up this way.
- Geoff Bottoms.
REVIEW - MANCHESTER ON STAGE - 29th Aug 2002 The first production in Manchester’s new season of professional theatre, Mark O’Rowe’s Howie the Rookie ricochets into The Library Theatre this week, produced by Rocket Theatre Company... Originally staged at the Bush in London, and subsequently seen in Dublin, Edinburgh, New York and San Francisco, the play arrives in Manchester amidst much hype for its regional première. It’s a bold choice for The Library, which kicks off what is arguably their most innovative season in years. Set in the underbelly of suburban Dublin, it’s the story of a scabies-infested mattress told from two perspectives - that of The Howie Lee and that of The Rookie Lee - and in two completely separate halves - we get the first version as a monologue before the interval and the second similarly thereafter. Padraic McIntyre is engaging in his portrayal of The Howie Lee, despite an occasional lack of emotional depth, and Graeme Hawley tackles The Rookie Lee with a similar sense of energy. The problem here is not the play, which is ultimately poignant, regardless of its flimsy premise, and not the performances, which are of a suitably polished quality, but the technical support. Lighting by Iain Dennis is both static and unimaginative, failing to enhance and occasionally detracting from the fast-paced script and manic performances. Given the simple set, a suitably sophisticated lighting design would assist in the placement and progression of scenes. Instead, the state remains virtually the same throughout as well as casting stray shadows at the rear of the stage, which significantly weaken the illusion. Likewise, the sound, designed by Ben Tear, despite attempts to integrate it into the production, is a somewhat hit and miss affair, with the balance frequently poor and the actors struggling to make themselves heard at key points in the script. O’Rowe’s dialogue is both complex and poetic. There is rarely a spare syllable and each word needs to be heard. As a play they are unlikely to produce in-house, this is a great start to The Library Theatre’s new season, but a less than finished product from Rocket, who on the strength of this showing have a way to go yet before fully earning their arts board subsidy.
- Neil Eckersley.
REVIEW - THIS IS LANCASTER - 29th Aug 2002 Howie's days of violence
THE Library Theatre's new season opens with an anarchic, foul-mouthed comedy from local company Rocket Theatre. Howie the Rookie takes theatregoers into the back streets, nightclubs and homes of a Dublin few tourists ever see. Here senseless beatings, booze filled days and bored yobs punctuate the atmosphere with fear and language that will peel wallpaper. The action centres around The Howie Lee and The Rookie Lee; who share the same name, the same world and eventually cross swords in more ways than one. Howie, played by Padraic McIntyre, is the centre of the first act and also plays a handful of other disparate characters. Whilst Rookie, played by Graeme Hawley, gives us his slant on life during the second act. Both actors effortlessly flit from one larger-than-life character to another, none larger than the sexually-voracious Avalanche or the six foot tall Puddin' Boy. Written by Irish playwright Mark O'Rowe the play is brutally tough and surprisingly tender, told in sexually-explicit and entirely authentic language. The play careers to a bloody, yet heart-wrenching, finale and if you are looking for something different to get you back into the season Howie the Rookie will fit the bill. The Library Theatre, Manchester until Saturday, August 31. Also Library Theatre, Darwen, on Friday, September 27
- Craig McGinty.
REVIEW - THE STAGE - 5th Sept. 2002 Manchester
Howie the Rookie Echoes of the raw power of Berkoff combined with the poetry of Dylan Thomas are evident in the award-winning production of Mark O'Rowe's stunning play at the Library Theatre. Rocket Theatre Company's production, imaginatively directed by Martin Harris, clearly demonstrates that this is much more than an Irish Under Milk Wood. The two monologues - delivered by characters Howie Lee and Rookie Lee - begin the same way with the narrator inviting us to join him onstage. As Padraic Mclntyre, playing Howie Lee, makes a powerful entrance through the auditorium and leaps onstage, the audience enters a violent world of petty crime and gang warfare on the seedy back- streets of Dublin. The stage is peopled with the colourful characters in his world until a tragic accident prompts him on the path to punishment in the hope of redemption. The second half of the play sees an equally impressive performance from Graeme Hawley as Howie's rival Rookie Lee. As their lives become intertwined and they bond, the laughter abounds as well as the gripping tension and surprisingly, through it all, poignant tragedy. The language is brutal and full of sexual imagery but is never gratuitous. This rare combination of a superb script married with excellent direction and first class performances marks yet another major success for the respected Rocket Theatre, which acknowledges the cooperation of the Library Theatre on this venture. This production certainly deserves a wider audience than its next small northern tour.
- Natalie Anglesey.
   © Rocket Theatre 2003 |
