Terminus

by Mark O'Rowe

Three people are ripped from their daily lives and catapulted into a fantastical world of singing serial killers, avenging angels, and lovesick demons. Hold tight as the ordinary turns extraordinary in Mark O’Rowe’s exhilarating new play. A blackly comic vision of Dublin infested with demons, from the author of Howie the Rookie .

Genres: Plays, Drama, Ireland, Theatre

64 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2007

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most powerful, face paced play I have ever read. It's pure lyricism flows from page to page. Amazing.

[Hallie Cheyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant manipulation of language to take the reader on what I can only call a wild ride on the back of powerful poetry.

[Kash · Rating 2 out of 5]

disclaimer: I read this for a creative writing class at university

It was interesting to see how the storylines intertwined, and I appreciated the artistry in the writing, which flowed and rhymed like poetic run-on-sentences, but overall I wasn't fond of the characters or the storyline.

[Jonathan Daley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really excellent. The lyrical language is exceptional, and it creates a hypnotic rhythm which I imagine creates quite the atmosphere when it is staged. The first of O’Rowe’s plays that I’ve read and I will definitely be reading more!

[Luke Hosford · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I expected from Mark O'Rowe, but with some especially grim scenarios and circumstances. The rhyming scheme worked well for the most part, but sometimes it felt like he was using a word that was unnecessarily sophisticated just because it rhymed

[Dr Janice Flux · Rating 4 out of 5]

gruesome and fucked up. I wish I could see it performed.

[Maeve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably better when performed but seems a bit gruesome for the sake of it when reading. It is written in a lyrical style that has subtle rhyming throughout each monologue.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't wait to read more or Mark O'Rowe's plays. This was great.

[Sarah Alma Angelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Challenging text but worth it for the powerful imagery. Better heard onstage (accents are necessary in order to capture the rhythm & rhyme) than read in my opinion.

[Isabella S · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sorry did she have sex with a worm man? Ill forever be afraid of the smut girlies finding this one.

[Caitlin Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fuck yeah

[Michael Meeuwis · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Contemporary verse drama" is not exactly a category threatening to overwhelm us. I saw this play's international tour in Chicago in 2011; its time, though, is very particularly 2007, towards the late end of the "Celtic Tiger" period and the beginning of the Irish economic crash. Cranes in Dublin feature prominently in the plot; the characters live in a world that might be transferred easily elsewhere, minus a few local brand- and place-names. Re-reading the play in book form, of course, one loses the charisma of the performers--and for some of this, that was sorely missed. In particular, there is a fair bit of the sort of violence-by-numbers that one expects from contemporary Irish playwrights. What makes the play interesting, I would suggest, is its particular verse form--which is closer to rhyming prose. Three characters speak the story in long monologues; as they do, rhyming word-sounds recur. This proves a particularly subtle instrument for monologues: rhyming words tie together ideas, but also modulate how quickly or slowly a passage goes by. It also provides for moments of cohesion and connection emphasized by rhyme, and of break from these when things don't rhyme. I'm maybe more find of the register of the play's speech than what it describes; there may be some deeper point being made deliberately, through this, by the play. Overall, though, interesting.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a powerful and unsettling play. Set in Dublin, it consists of three un-named characters and nine inter-connected monologues. The narrative is initially straightforward: a hotline volunteer embarks on a mission to help someone in distress, a young woman goes out for a drink with friends, a man picks up a not-very-attractive woman in a bar. Gradually, the threads of the narratives merge, the links between the characters become clear and the story becomes dark and almost surreal. This is not for everyone: it contains strong language and references to sex and violence. But there is also comedy and real human tragedy. The language is wonderful: amazingly evocative and - best of all - in verse.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but too dark for my taste

[Joshua Bohnsack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw a production of O'Rowe's Howie the Rookie in Dublin and was astounded with the language. I didn't enjoy this as much, but it is a great trio of narratives.

[Kateřina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific.