The 2016 Presidential Election has been perhaps the most contentious in modern history. Erupting from the three debates – as well as prior to the nominations – there has been a disturbing barrage of bigotry, xenophobia, sexism, and racism. Economic disparity has been used to woo voters without providing them any concrete paths to a better future. For these reasons,…
“A bit of shouting – everyone shouts here – it’s the national sport.” – Robert to Jimmy in “Quietly” Fifty-two-year-old Ian (Declan Conlon) appeals to his teen years’ nemesis Jimmy (Patrick O’Kane) to meet in the neighborhood Belfast pub where they first became aware of one another thirty-six years ago when they were both only sixteen. It is not the…
“And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was 8 years ago. But more than that: After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she’s still a beacon, still a magnet for all…
Hugh Pugh (Peter Maloney) neither bathes nor opens his mail on any regular basis. He has not bathed in four years and his mail has been abandoned under the letter box “this decades.” Hugh succumbs to a bubble bath in anticipation of the visit from his ninety-one year old alcoholic brother. Hugh is ninety and is a small-time farmer living…
Conor McPherson’s “The Weir,” a haunting play of effervescent charm, finds a cozy home at the Irish Repertory Theatre. Directed by Irish Rep veteran Ciarán O’Reilly, the play bathes comfortably in old-country charm, fireside folk tales, and sepulchral gloom. The play centers around one night at a bar in rural Ireland. Excitement stirs in the placid village when Valerie, a…
It’s Doubt meets Lolita in Nate Rufus Edleman’s pontifical comedy The Belle of Belfast, currently at the Irish Repertory Theatre. Anne, a seventeen-year-old girl living in Belfast during the violent Troubles, falls in love with Ben, a dashing young(ish) priest. Initially he resists, but when Anne shows up at his parish soaked through from the rain and teary over her…
Shipping ports worldwide are governed by rules of access: regulating who can dock and who cannot; who can ship to and from and who cannot; who has authority to enter and exit and who does not. Unlike those ports of call, the three men in Conor McPherson’s 2001 “Port Authority” have no control of their “ports.” These are men to…
There is a brooding sadness inherent in and hovering over the love story of Liverpudlian Timothea Stiles (Xanthe Elbrick) and Cliffhorn Heads fisherman Colm Primrose (Patrick Fitzgerald). Gardner McKay’s mesmeric “Sea Marks” echoes the deep sadness of James Joyce and the disputatious anger of Martin McDonagh and, blended with his own unique storytelling style, creates a beautiful tale of love…
The Boyle family is a wounded family whose vitality has been disarmed by struggles within the family system and a myriad of conflicts without the confines of that system. Perhaps the Boyles’ most significant problem is economic: “Captain” Jack Boyle (Ciarán O’Reilly) abhors work and the mere suggestion of responding to an offer of work sends sharp pains up and…