I popped over to Libery Hall last night to watch The Countess and the Lesbians hoping that, after meeting the director and actress/producer, it would be up to their expectations. I wasn’t disappointed. Thank god we seem to have crawled out of the era when we all went to lesbian plays/films knowing they’d be crap, but having to do our community duty. This production is professional, perfectly-pitched and thought-provoking.

It’s difficult to describe the plot but stick with me. Nan and Grace are actresses in a play about Countess Markievicz, in the parts of the countess’s sister, Eva Gore-Booth and Eva’s lover, Esther Roper. The director, who also plays the countess is Katherine, Grace’s lover.

As the three run through the pages of Katherine’s play, questions are raised about things as trivial as sound effects and as profound as the nature of herosim, the importance of lesbians in history and who, ultimately, is the rebel – someone who wears khaki and gets put in prison, or the person behind the scenes who writes to officials, fights for the rights for the fogotten and works tirelessly for the hopeless?

The three actresses are excellent, comfortable in their roles and aware of exactly what the play is doing. Gina Costigan, as Grace, stood out for me. At the start she seems the weakest but grows throughout the piece, becoming more confident and allowing herself more of a voice. Clever, as this is exactly what her character is about – as Eva, she is under the shadow of the sister she loves and, as Grace, she is over-shone by Katherine. It’s with the help and encouragement of Nan that she steps into her own, which mirrors Eva exactly. Away from her sister Eva was a force to be reckoned with, a worker for social justice, a writer of plays and poetry and a voice listen to by those around her.

The direction of The Countess and the Lesbians is good too. If the plot seems colvoluted as you read this, it’s directed with an ease and fluidity which makes it a pleasure. The only thing that rankled for me was the intro – a video piece to get us to know that this is a play with a play. It was good, and I can even forgive the tATu song, it just went on too long. However, once that was over things got better and better.

The Countess and the Lesbians is a fascinating deconstruction of a time of Irish heroism, posing questions you’ll be talking about for days afterwards.

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