WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2026

Imagine 2026:
The Green Frog

Eimear Ginesi (Naomi), Jack Elmore (Matt) and Kai McCaughtry (Abby)
in 'The Green Frog'. Photo: Sean McKernan

Brief in length but enduring in impact, the Wildering Production of Johanna Gallagher's The Green Frog is one of those striking and significant plays which commands its audience's attention both as momentary entertainment and a very well thought through response to present and past times. As a rehearsed forty-minute reading on the small stage of Belfast's Shoot Gallery at Chapel Lane, rawness is to be expected, but it's an indefatigable asset – as indefatigable, one could argue, as the persistence shown by the motley crew on the titular flotilla of the play, a trio setting out to "make a difference" on their voyage out at sea.

That trio would be Naomi, played by Eimear Ginesi; Matt, played by Jack Elmore; and Abby, played by Kai McCaughtry. A classic case of a group supposedly unified by a mission but distinctive in both the colour of their clothing and their individual personalities, a bit like the sort you'd find on Star Trek's USS Enterprise and Red Dwarf's Starbug. There aren't any straightforward introductions here as such, just a window into how Naomi, Matt and Abby act around each other in this space for this length of time and how it impacts their behaviour. Think the core of The Blair Witch Project and a big reason why the travails of Heather, Josh and Mike still linger today, except – and no spoilers intended – The Green Frog's resolution is more ambiguous than horrifying.

What I think holds most truthfully and strong in Gallagher's writing, performed with real commitment by Ginesi, Elmore and McCaughtry, is the human need for identity, direction, friendship and companionship, and how the pain from the absence of any of those things, be it due to natural or societal elements, is reflected right back at the viewer. We get an inclination of insular people politics, what happens when a collection of apparent misfits feel adrift in an open space, and how a team of individuals come to work together amidst personal and perhaps professional conflicts. But Gallagher and the cast wisely draw frequent humour and sporadic hilarity from the situation, perhaps recognising that if you don't laugh, you'll cry, while the audience see archetypal souls developing haphazardly but intriguingly before their very eyes, the initially alien becoming the fully recognisable. The potential in the intense, thematic and comedic elements of The Green Frog, which repeatedly shine in this performance, is enormous.

Simon Fallaha

The Green Frog is being performed at the Shoot Gallery, Chapel Lane, Belfast, as part of this year's Imagine! Belfast Festival, until Wednesday March 25. For more information, and tickets, click here.