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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Arifa Akbar

Juno and the Paycock review – Mark Rylance delights as a drunken fantasist Dubliner

Aisling Kearns, J Smith-Cameron, Mark Rylance and Eimhin Fitzgerald Doherty in Juno and the Peacock.
Bonhomie and shenanigans … Aisling Kearns, J Smith-Cameron, Mark Rylance and Eimhin Fitzgerald Doherty in Juno and the Peacock. Photograph: Manuel Harlan

A volley of gunshots at the start signifies the violent backdrop to Seán O’Casey’s 1924 tragicomedy, which takes place during the Irish civil war of 1922-23. But it is a distant sound, and musical hall-style comedy and drunken shenanigans take prominence in this production.

The second in O’Casey’s Dublin trilogy, Juno and the Paycock dramatises tenement life for the Boyles, whose breadwinner, Jack (Mark Rylance), prefers drink to work while his wife, Juno (J Smith-Cameron), is left to earn their keep.

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