Empire gets an early Irish Christmas

This is certainly not your run-of-the-mill Christmas tale. Fireworks aren't even due yet but the opening night crowd accepted the spirit of goodwill that was on offer from the Irish O’Carroll family and friends.

However if you are looking for an early dose of festive cheer for all the family this is not the night out for you.

A definite alternative to your classic Christmas theatre visit (maybe the panto watershed finishes earlier not later), from the off you are treated to a rainbow’s worth of colourful language.

Writer and director Brendon O’Carroll certainly looks at home on the stage, and as lead Agnes Brown, he rolls through the evening with a comfort built on the back of four previous outings as the foul-mouthed mother of six, this part “3B of the trilogy”.

A tale of a traditional Irish family in the run-up to the Christmas sees Agnes looking forward to the first time all her children have been under one roof in four years, but was it ever going to be that simple?

Brendon’s, at times boundless, energy helps to vary the pace of the evening, giving it a variety of comedy to draw from, with old fashioned banter and wordplay mixed in with slapstick sequences that had the audience roaring with laughter, and fearing for Mrs Brown’s health.

The first act, in all fairness to it, is somewhat hit and miss, and the humour more towards the Roy Chubby Brown end of the comedic scale rather than Oxford Footlights, but at no point do jokes fall flat.

Post-interval however, as the story begins to tie itself together culminating in Christmas and a hopeful family reunion, it’s tough to fault a performance which kept the audience, and often some of the cast, guessing and consistently laughing.

It’s easy to see the chemistry between those onstage, and even easier to understand why, as Agnes’ daughter, Cathy, is Brendan’s wife and Maria and Buster, two of his children. The rest of cast also include his sister and other long-time friends, and you can tell they are just enjoying their time on the stage.

Fluffed lines and actors bursting into the odd fit of giggles just helped to give the play that added spark of spontaneity and pantomime feel to the whole evening, but who wouldn’t be thrown by being repeatedly slapped with a tea towel?

There were of course your token emotional points, again prompting more interaction between cast and crowd. These are fairly fleeting and do what they can to humanise the characters somewhat more, but the message of a loving mother and family is a rock solid foundation to build insult and abuse aplenty upon in a charming fashion.

With two standing ovations to finish the night it remains clear the ‘special relationship’ between Liverpool and Ireland stretches not only to people and culture, but comedy too.