A bunch of bankers put to the

Byline: Michael Moffatt

Penelope Druid Theatre, Galway Until July 24 With characters called Fitz, Dunne and Quinn, Enda Walsh's latest play with Druid is most blatantly a savage satire on our speculators and bankers.

Yet Walsh's plays are never straightforward, so what he gives us is a wildly offbeat retelling of the story of four men trying to woo Penelope, wife of Ulysses, while her husband is fighting in the Trojan wars. There is, however, no incense or togas. They live in a drained swimming pool with tight little Speedos and a huge symbolic barbeque in the middle. They could light it once, but their flame isn't working anymore.

They know Ulysses will savage them when he comes home but these characters are fine examples of the male psyche that doesn't let you give up even when you know you're putting your head in a noose.

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In typical Walsh style, it's all delivered in a blitz of surreal humour, brutality, pulsating language and poetic imagery that may leave some audiences looking for explanations. The beautiful, never-ageing Penelope appears on a level above them at times. She's the embodiment of all that is most desirable, and is contemptuous of them. She doesn't even look at them but watches their pleadings on a screen. In corporate-speak, she represents the ultimate in real estate.

The men come alive only at the thought of this ultimate conquest. For Quinn, each day is a chance to control someone; competition and hate are friends - and a friend's death cuts down the competition.

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Dunne admits that he's been given nothing but has taken a lot. Their efforts are given farcical and tragic expression near the end by a series of quickfire, self-deluding costume changes by Quinn, a passionate admirer of his own body.

It's one of the strengths of Walsh's writing that his characters are not just symbols - they have characteristics that give each of them individuality and plenty of outlets for scoring off each other.

Some of the long monologues may be Wholesale Handbags hard to grasp fully on a single hearing, but they are intriguing, forcing you to think about what drives these successful men to selfdestruction.

The final monologues, however, are a bit too reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin's speech at the end of The Great Dictator.

There's a great cast and I can't imagine a more perfect silent siren than Olga Wherly.

Michael Moffatt stayed in Galway as a guest of the Meyrick Hotel, a sponsor of the festival - hotelmeyrick.ie.

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SPEEDO: Karl Shiels

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