Live Report: Moonlight: The Philip Lynott Enigma captivates Vicar Street

Moonlight: The Philip Lynott Enigma is set to take over Vicar Street for its third night, and while the stakes are high - that same fear among fans of past legends watching their biopic - there’s a jubilant air in the venue. On stage, a single spotlight shines on the Thin Lizzy, while a rhythm section awaits their players. In the packed crowd, several punters don Thin Lizzy t-shirts of various eras. It’s clear something special is about to happen.

What ensues once those lights dim is nothing short of intentional. The show starts with a voiceover of Oscar Wilde’s famed passage in The Artist As Critic:

"A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, his punishment (and his reward) is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world."

Lynott was certainly a man who found his way as such. An incomparable figure, who transcended tortuous and (till now) largely unspoken circumstances, the Crumlin native was so much more than a rockstar slash songwriter. He was a poet.

That is exactly what Moonlight: The Philip Lynott Enigma strives to prove over the course of two jam-packed acts.

Moonlight - The Philip Lynott Enigma at Vicar Street / copyright Patrik Meier

To take on the role of Phil Lynott is hardly easy and effortless. But Peter M. Smith is simply brilliant in his interpretation of the man himself. In fact, Smith doesn’t act the role so much as he embodies it.

We meet Lynott in the immediate aftermath of his death, as he roams a purgatory barroom, specifically Tír na Bhfilí or the land of the poets, with the faithfully eccentric Brendan Behan - played by the incredible Padraig O’Loingsigh - who guides Lynott through the afterlife. Here, we are introduced to the Lynott behind the facade of celebrity and legend.

The show boasts lengthy dialogues between Behan and Lynott, with the Thin Lizzy frontman recounting his childhood with at times brutal honesty. Interspersed with unswerving renditions of Thin Lizzy classics - backed by a tight live band - Moonlight is a magical creation of the brainchild between John Merrigan and Danielle Morgan. Where this production succeeds is in striking a balance between honesty and honour in cracking The Philip Lynott Enigma.

Moonlight - The Philip Lynott Enigma at Vicar Street / copyright Patrik Meier

Lovers of Thin Lizzy - especially those who mourn his absence on stage - will certainly find themselves down memory lane within the first few minutes of Moonlight. With three more Dublin dates and a Limerick date in June, the Thin Lizzy acolytes and curious alike are sure to fall for this well-wrought opus just as I did.

Moonlight - The Philip Lynott Enigma at Vicar Street / copyright Patrik Meier

Opening the night, Eric Bell saunters on stage as a custodian before picking up his guitar and letting everyone know exactly who he is. And if that isn’t enough, he even introduces himself - to unsurprisingly deafening applause - and offers a heart rending reflection on his former band mate and friend.

“[Phil] was an ordinary guy and an extraordinary guy at the same time”, he smiles.

Perhaps there’s no better summation of the play than this. With the brilliant production Moonlight: The Philip Lynott Enigma we are reintroduced to the man himself. Walking out of Vicar Street, I couldn’t help but notice my wildly enhanced appreciation for Lynott as the person he was best: a poet and an Irishman. Maybe even one of the best.

Moonlight: The Philip Lynott Enigma returns to Vicar Street June 20th, 21st and 22nd and UCH Limerick on June 24th. See here for tickets.