What's The Frequency, Arthur?

Rough Magic’s production of the comedy musical Improbable Frequency is packed with an array of musical influences that should please us all. With music composed by Bell Helicopter and lyrics by playwright/actor Arthur Riordan, it mixes, says the author, the kind of “rhythmic techniques of rap” he used in previous plays like MC Dev’s Emergency Session and Rap Eire plus, “a little German cabaret, Noel Coward, and traditional Irish music” – not to mention a pastiche of popular songs of the early ‘40s, when the musical is set. But it was only after Improbable Frequency became the highlight of last year’s Dublin Theatre Festival that Arthur discovered one of the hidden reasons for the fact that people want to see it more than once!

“It’s full of one liners but they are so densely packed that people don’t get certain jokes the first time, so they come back to the show again to get all the laughs!” he says. “So it’s turned out to be a kind of musical for the DVD generation!”
That said, one of the more surprising elements in the success of Improbable Frequency is that it is set in 1941 and deals with a subject many members of the so-called DVD generation might be presumed to find boring. Namely, Ireland’s neutrality during the Second World War. Though the surreal way in which the subject is treated - with a diffident young code-breaker dispatched by MI5 to Dublin to determine which side neutral Ireland is really on, encountering John Betjemen, Myles na gCopaleen and nuclear physics along the way – is far from boring. The play has enjoyed considerable acclaim, notably winning three Irish Times/ESB Theatre Awards last year. When – if at all – in the creative process did he, director Lynne Parker and his fellow actors and musicians realise that they had something special on their hands?
“Really, I had no idea how this work would be received,” he responds. “It was a commission for Rough Magic and I just wrote it to amuse myself and stretch myself. But there was a moment like the one you describe. During the writing process we got the musicians and a few actors together and did workshops for a week. Then at the end of that week we would have a semi-public presentation of a few of the songs. We did that twice and there was a great reaction, which was very encouraging. It was a real help for me. Then there was also the pressure of needing to have it finished for opening night during the Theatre Festival. But we all are knocked out by the success it has had and, of course, by the fact that it’s now opening at the Abbey.”
Arthur notes that whatever criticism the Abbey has been receiving, “it’s still the national theatre” and having his work presented “in that context” is something that pleases him on a personal level. But let’s look at the national issue alluded to in the assertion that Improbable Frequency “lifts the lid on our beloved neutrality and gets to the heart of the tempestuous affair with our nearest neighbour.” That’s quite a statement!
“The play deals with the various ways in which we often miss the point about each other,” Arthur responds. “It’s not quite mutual incomprehension but I think each sees in the other their own worst traits and finds it a bit embarrassing. But the hook for the play is the Second World War and what we did do and didn’t do, and that’s what the fantasy plot edges its way towards. But it does it with comedy and music above all else. For example the theme of neutrality is addressed directly in the Noel Coward-type song which is sung by the British Diplomatic staff. It’s called ‘Be Careful Not to Patronise the Irish’ – which is a song that breaks its own rules! But overall I do believe that anyone who comes to see Improbable Frequency is in for an evening of fun. And, sure, if they don’t get all the jokes the first time they can come back again! And we are doing great return business!”

Improbable Frequency is at the Abbey from March 4th – April 9th.