INTERVIEW: ‘Disco Pigs’ heads from Ireland to NYC

Disco Pigs, the celebrated Enda Walsh play, is receiving a rare revival at the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York City. The production, starring Evanna Lynch and Colin Campbell, plays an extended run through March 4.

The drama surrounds two characters named Pig and Runt, who were both born on the same day in the same hospital. They are friends of the highest degree, speaking in their own language and creating a world for themselves. Their actions and language turn surreal and violent as the play progresses to its unexpected conclusion.

This is Enda Walsh, after all.

The 20th anniversary production comes to New York thanks to Tara Finney Productions. Lynch and Campbell are highly regarded actors in Ireland and the United States. Lynch was part of the Harry Potter film series, and Campbell has performed in such productions as Dublin by Lamplight. John Haidar directed them in Disco Pigs.

“I was doing a play in Dublin at the time, and an audition came in for the show,” Campbell said in a recent phone interview. “I had seen a student production of it years ago. I think I probably did a bit of accent work on it in college as well. It’s quite a popular play in Ireland, so, yeah, Enda and all of his work is highly regard.”

Campbell attended that London audition at the same time he was performing in another play. That meant he had to fly to London in the morning, try to impress the creative team and then fly back on the same day to keep acting. Luckily, everything worked out, and he has been with Disco Pigs on either side of the Pond.

For the actor, the selling point to join the production was because of Walsh’s unique language choices. “The language pops off the page,” he said. “If you just attack the language it’ll sort of bring out a character, I found with this particular role. Yeah, we did work on it in the rehearsals, some fine-tuning, but I think I had a good sense of it from the page what Enda Walsh had written several years ago.”

Campbell said it has been a thrill to work with Lynch at the Irish Rep, calling her a “generous actress.” They have bonded over their experience of acting in the highly physical and challenging production.

“We quickly got to know each other,” he said. “It made for an easy process in the rehearsal room. …  No trust issues on stage. When we lock on each other’s eyes, we kind of go, ‘Don’t worry we have each other.'”

The play has been met with critical acclaim, but for audience members, it’s not the easiest night at the theater. The two characters speak in their own language, so following the surreality of the narrative can be a challenge — but a welcome challenge.

This is Enda Walsh, after all.

“Obviously you want everyone to enjoy the show, but you want to challenge people as well,” Campbell said. “Otherwise you sit at home and watch Netflix, I think. I had the same feeling when I came to it first. I didn’t grasp it all, but I knew there was something special in that play.”

Walsh is an in-demand Renaissance man of the theater. At the same time Disco Pigs is playing at the Irish Rep, St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn is running a production of the playwright’s Ballyturk. He also recently had an opera run in Galway and Dublin, Ireland. This meant that the actors had extremely limited time with the writer.

“We didn’t have much time,” Campbell said. “He popped in because he’s a very busy man. He has Ballyturk on. He had an opera on in Galway and Dublin at the time called The Second Violinist, and now he’s got this new play next year with Cillian Murphy. … He’s a very, very busy man, so we nabbed him for half a day, the very last day of rehearsals. He came in to see the second half of the show, so it was nice to have him there. But then he managed to catch the show over here on I think it was our third preview, and he seemed to be happy enough with what we achieved. So that was a huge relief, probably the best review we’ve gotten so far.”

Campbell added: “We’re kind of blessed with great writers, playwrights and theater companies at home [in Ireland]. … [Walsh] did sort of shake things up a bit and brought Irish theater in a new direction.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

Disco Pigs is currently playing an extended run at the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.