Anna Burnside reviews a production with ‘huge potential but needs more development’.
What happens when nominative determinism goes wrong? Joy, a downhearted but horny librarian, would like to meet a nice young man. Or at least find a willing partner for dirty sex. Instead, she goes on a Tinder date with a neanderthal with shit chat and worse jokes.
This is the slightly convoluted set up for the erroneously named heroine’s quest to acquire a sense of humour.
Along the way she encounters a harsh Northern Irish library supervisor, a therapy group and a man that she thinks she has manifested but who turns up just to be dressed up for World Book Day.
There are a couple of interludes of dad jokes, including one with mildly awkward audience participation.
Writer Morna Young’s idea has huge potential but needs more development. The framing device - that this is a stand-up comedy show about Joy’s journey - is not clear and feels bolted on. And a play about a stand-up comedian is more than meta. Is Joy a character comedian or a character?
Naomi Stirrat does her best as the walking oxymoron struggling with, as we later learn, a double whammy of grief. But this also feels unsatisfying. This character has every reason to be low. It was more intriguing in the initial set-up, when Joy appeared to have been born in a minor key.
Director Alex Fthenakis tries hard to pull this together with some Kate Bush/gothic literature references and music, but it feels like yet another ingredient on an overloaded pizza.
The world could definitely use a great play about a grumpy woman called Joy, but this is not yet it. There are enough mediocre stand-up comedians in the world without going to the trouble of inventing another one.
Joy performs at Oran Mor’s A Play, A Pie and A Pint until March 21, 2026. For further details, go to the company’s website.
Photo by Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.
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