I love going to the theatre and last week I went to see the latest Paul Howard comedy “Breaking Dad”, the third instalment based on the satirical fictional union jock Ross O’Carroll-Kelly. I had heard this character’s name mentioned many times over the years with a hilarious quote or anecdote about his nefarious behaviour ensuing. I had never read any of Howard’s books, something my friend Elaine (who accompanied me that night to watch the play) promised to remedy. However, I had heard so many great things about the play that I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

I sneaked into the Gaiety Theatre as the show was about to commence and fell over a few feet as the lights deemed. Looking around, I noticed the crowd comprised of different ages in an upward sliding scale showing that old Rosser transcended the ages. There was an older lady beside Elaine who was actually reading one of the Ross O’Carroll-Kelly books….possibly trying to get into the mood before the show began.

As everything went dark, except for the spot lights on the stage, Rory Nolan who plays Ross O’Carroll-Kelly sauntered onto the stage wearing a hazmat suit. He ripped it off and began a monologue that gave us our first glimpse into the mind of this smug, obnoxious southsider who boasted about bygone years when he was a skilled rugby kicker at school. His tirade was hilarious and narcissistic in equal measure as this ‘dube’ wearing ex-jock with his stiff collared rugby shirts showed us that although he may not be the “fastest crayon in the box” you couldn’t help but like him. I found myself in stitches after a few short sentences and I continued laughing the entire way through the play.

My favourite quotes of the night had to be:

“Back up the hard drive”

“Celtic Phoenix”…after our Celtic Tiger

“Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you’d been given enough oxygen at birth?”

Every subsequent character introduced was wonderfully overplayed, from the foul-mouthed exaggerated hysterics of his daughter Honor to bimbo wife Sorcha whose obsession with her career is only overshadowed by her bimbo, bouncing curls as she flounces on & off stage. My two personal favourites of the night had to be Rosser’s father Charles and his son Ronan (played by ‘Love/Hate’ star Laurence Kinlan). Both contrasted the other wonderfully from the southside accented, rugby & Bertie Ahern loving grandfather to the inner city, tracksuit wearing, soccer loving grandson with 9 kids (as the play went on it was slightly implausible that Ronan was actually a son of Ross).

It unfolds that while Ross is trying to tiptoe around past indiscretions & relive his glorious past, his temperamental daughter is falling in love with Trealoch, a boy suspiciously like Ross in build & ego (he’s also a No.10 rugby kicker). Ross must deal with living in the shadow of his wife, who dreams of becoming the next president of Ireland, while Charles & Ronan lend their help with matters “from here to paternity”.

At the end, myself, Elaine & a spattering of others gave the cast a standing ovation. All the elements of the night from the talented cast, clever set and comical script ensured that a wonderful night of none too clean humour and boisterous fun would be had by all. I can’t wait to start the books and to see what Ross O’Carroll-Kelly gets up to next.