There was an audible gasp of disbelief from the GLAS audience last night when they realised that the formidable Kitsy Rainey had shuffled off this mortal coil since we last saw her alive and well and about to marry the mute cobbler, Pat Farnon.
Such was the hold she had taken on the affections of the many present who had already seen Mikel Murfi bring her to life on the Geneva stage last January in ‘The Man in the Woman’s Shoes’, the first episode of Murfi’s great trilogy.
‘I Hear You and Rejoice’ is a touching, beautiful tribute to the love that bloomed late in life between the wise and gentle Pat Farnon and a woman ‘fierce’ in all her lust for life from coaching the parish football team to letting the local clergy know what she thinks of them.
Murfi’s performance was interrupted with applause twice last night as the audience could not contain their delight at the high comedy with which he imbued the various, off-beat contributions at her funeral mass.
Pat Farnon in his newfound solitary state recalls with deep affection highlights of his life with Kitsy who was brought back to life by Murfi with stunning force along with a host of other characters. These included an amazing football match commentary sidetracked by a sideline incident in which Kitsy apparently assaults a match official and an incredibly funny rendition of a crackling 78 rpm record playing Count John McCormack singing ‘The Lark in the Clear Air.’
None of this offset the genuine grief one felt along with Pat at his great loss. We wait for the third episode to find out how he is coping.
It was all done by one man and a chair, little wonder then that there was a long, standing ovation at the end from a capacity attendance who gave generously – CHF 7,300 – to a good cause, the Edith Wilkins Foundation for Street Children in Darjeeling which GLAS has been supporting now for several years.