The Beehive Theatre Company's production of "Chamber Music" by Arthur Kopit was produced and directed by Malcolm George and Wendela Rosenberg Polak.
The play revolves around a meeting in a lunatic asylum attended by eight female inmates, who believe themselves to be famous historical characters, ranging from Queen Isabella of Spain (Ilaria Delcane) to Susan. B. Anthony, civil rights activist (Trish Hendrick).
Together, the group forms a committee which represents the women of the asylum. In the belief that they are under threat from the men's ward, their objective is to prevent such an attack. They consider attacking the men's ward and devouring the inmates. However, events take a tragic turn and the outcome triggers questions about the dark recesses of human nature.
"Chamber Music" opens on a light-hearted note with the introduction of the eight central characters and their idiosyncrasies. As the play unfolds, the mood becomes darker and questions about human nature begin to emerge.
Are these delusional women really who they think they are? They have based themselves on strong female characters, yet their neuroses about men eventually directs the play to its tragic end.
The brief appearances of the sole male characters, the doctor (Niall O'Higgins) renders the panel of powerful female characters terrified and almost catatonic.
The Beehive Theatre Company's hour long performance of this one-act play left the audience enthralled and entertained from start to finish. The eight ladies and the doctor were superbly cast and the range of age and nationality reflected the general diversity of the Beehive Theatre Company.
The costumes deserve a special mention for their creativity. It was wonderful to experience such thought-provoking piece of theatre and future Beehive productions deserve to be supported with the same level of commitment and ardour which was displayed by directors and cast.

Kerryman August 31st 2007

Joanne Ní Shuilleabhain and Eileen O'Shea