I, Keano - The Lowry - 28/02/06 by James Ellaby

Just a flying boot's distance away from Old Trafford is a risky place to make fun of Sir Alex Ferguson, but the producers of I, Keano did invite the Manchester United boss to this opening night. Whether he turned up or not remains to be seen, but it's debatable whether The Hairdryer God will have found it amusing. The rest of us were pretty safe to have a good laugh though, particularly with Keano himself having decamped to the Celtic Fortress.

Back when this was originally booked, Roy Keane was still the United captain, and some of the material is slightly dated because of the fall-out between him and his mentor since this comedy musical was written, although there are a few little asides that hint of the trouble to come (in I, Keano II?). But, of course, the main gist of this is the 2002 World Cup bust-up with Mick McCarthy over the shambolic preparations in the Irish camp.

It received some great reviews back in Ireland, and certainly won over the audience at The Lowry on opening night, and there's no doubt that there are plenty of laughs here for football fans. The problem is that anyone who doesn't know what happened in Saipan won't have the faintest clue what's going on here, as the plot gets most of its laughs from in-jokes that only football fans will get, which makes it not a particularly great idea for a date...

However, it does make it a great night out for the kind of people who wouldn't necessarily enjoy going to the theatre. The genius of I, Keano is in the translation of the story into a Roman epic, with Keano the star warrior banging heads with General Macartacus and his two lackeys, Quinnes and Packie Bonnerus. Certainly neither of the latter two will enjoy seeing their representations as a Father Dougal-esque do-gooder and a rather stupid clumsy oaf, but it's great fun.

Other peripheral characters include Fergi the Hairdryer God; Dunphia the sleazy Keano-loving writer; Ridiculus the drunken Federation chief and, best of all, Duffus and Keano The Younger, played by two small boys. However, the stars of the show are undoubtedly Dessie Gallagher as the thick-headed Macartacus and Denis Foley as the tortured soul of Keano, and both hit their characters right on the nail. Gallagher is so good that he could probably turn up at the Stadium of Light and convince the Sunderland squad that he is McCarthy. He could hardly do any worse there than the real thing, could he?

The songs are surprisingly well done, with some great lyrics and catchy tunes, as well as an excellent spoof of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody in the second half. That's particularly important as pretty much all of the story takes place before the interval, culminating in the infamous 'clear the air meeting' that ended in plenty of swearing and shouting from Keano. After the break, things get a bit flabby and it all goes on a bit too long, but there's still enough laughs to get it ticking over.

I, Keano isn't a show for all the family, with rather more swearing than the official warning of 'Contains strong language in the style of Father Ted', while the subject matter will alienate as many people as it will attract. It's not the kind of play that stays with you for very long after you've left the theatre, but Father Ted writer Arthur Matthews, along with Michael Nugent and Paul Woodfull, have managed to create a musical comedy that is both cleverer and dumber than you might expect.