Running the full length of the Galway Arts Festival 2025 was the loud production full of country hits and accent misses, Vernon God Little. Brought to the Nun's Island stage by Galway Arts Centre's Galway Youth Theatre, the play was an adaptation of DBC Pierre's Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name.
On the Wednesday of the last week of this year's festival, I settled down for an hour and a half submersion into the central-Texan way of life with a nearly full house. From country hits such as 'Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By )', 'Stand by Your Man', 'Rhinestone Cowboy', and a Spanish version of Cash's 'Ring of Fire', to blatant homophobia, I did not feel far away from the red state.
Set in the early 2000s, the play followed Vernon, a Texan high schooler, as he faced an ordinary day until his best friend murdered 16 classmates. With no alibi, Vernon becomes the target of a witch hunt. Desperate to escape, he flees his small Texan hometown, with America’s media on his tail.
The fully energetic performance had no interval and was stocked full of satirical commentary on the American judicial system, while highlighting the absurdity of media coverage in the US. The cast fully embodied each character they were playing, and some of them had multiple roles, giving a sense that there were more people hidden backstage than there actually were. No lines were forgotten, and while some of the Texas twang accents were dodgy, with one character sounding like the Mole from Disney's Atlantis, I was stunned at the ability of some of the younger actors who were able to keep pace, character and stamina throughout.
A special mention should be given to the live band, who, without them, I feel like the production would have fallen apart or not been as impactful.
The root of my problem is primarily with the original text produced by Peter Warren Finlay, aka 'Dirty But Clean' (DBC ) Pierre. The supposed satirical take on American life, for me, fell short of the mark. The themes of the US judicial system, gun violence, religion, sexual assault, homophobia, racism, and ableism were all so surface-level and jumped from one issue to the next so quickly that it felt as if Pierre was including all of the right keywords just to get his Booker Prize. There was no depth or careful exploration into any issues; they were placed in there for comedic effect and dark satire only, which, to me, became uncomfortable.
Bringing novels into the modern sphere is always risky, but there are delicate workarounds. If the themes and issues were reworked in a slightly more contemporary way, then this would have been a home run for the Galway Arts Centre's Galway Youth Theatre. It raises the question of whether modernising novels alters the author's original intent or if it can be done in a way that preserves their meaning while making it more accessible to audiences.
