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| Background: Robert Smyth, Deborah Gilmour Smith, Brian Mackey and Rachael Van Wormer |
New York born Irish –American Patrick Shanley of “Doubt” (Pulitzer Prize) and “Moonstruck” (Best original Screenplay) and “Danny and the Deep Blue Sea” knows how to tell story and build it to awesome heights while keeping us in suspense as to the outcome.
That’s the case with “Outside Mullingar” now playing at Lambs Players Theater through March 3rd.
“Outside Mullingar” hit some nerves as I sat and watched two lonely young people struggle to gain their footing in a world that talks love and relationships, sings its praises but for them it’s an uphill journey to find either or even one.
Sometimes you just want to knock two heads together to put some sense into them. That’s the case of Anthony Reilly (Brian Mackey) and Rosemary Muldoon (Rachael Van Wormer) .
To say that their secret longings have been brewing under the surface for years would be an understatement especially for Rosemary. Anthony even had a serious girlfriend at one time and Rosemary weathered that storm. For Rosemary, her patience is running thin. Anthony has his own inner musings that stops him from confronting the present. We will learn about that later rather than sooner.
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| Brian Mackey and Rachael Van Wormer(back row) Robert Smyth and Deborah Gilmour Smyth |
Tony and Aoife (Robert Smyth and Deborah Gilmour Smyth)) have been neighbors, it seems forever. They live in a rural village just outside Mullingar not far from Dublin, but it seems a world away.
After the death of her husband we find Aoife and Tony deep in conversation in Tony’s kitchen about the funeral. The conversation veers to rumors that Tony is not going to give his only son Anthony his farm after he dies, which he’s sure will be soon. He’s considering a nephew in America as the recipient.
Tony goes back and forth about who Anthony looks like in the family, the fact that he’s not married nor has his own children to pass it along and the fact he doesn’t really likes the farm (“You don’t stand on the land and draw strength from it as I did.”)
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| Brian and Rachael |
By this time Rosemary has come to the house and both mother and daughter fall on Tony until he comes to his senses and agrees Anthony should have the farm after all.
The two families own adjoining farms with a gate separating them. Years ago when Tony needed some cash he sold off a small parcel to Aoife’s husband that was deeded to Rosemary when she was a child. Tony wants it back, but that’s a non- starter. The land will remain in Rosemary’s column.
It’s not surprising then, that there were no secrets between the four nor is there now between the two since each lost their surviving parent. The only unspoken puzzle is why the two have been dancing their separate dances for years. Why they don’t decide to get hitched is the mystery that we all hope will be resolved at plays end. Certainly, there is chemistry, history and it just makes sense.
Now a year has passed and both sets parents on each side are deceased. For Rosemary, her patience is running out. Anthony has his own inner thoughts that we will learn later rather than sooner.
But Shanley’s “Outside Mullingar” isn’t that simple. It’s really about two displaced (just about past prime time) people who must take this journey alone to find love or whatever they imagine love would look like. It’s epic in proportion, as we will soon find, as the entire later part of the play will begin their coming of age relationship.
Between Shanley’s lyrical dialogue, and a terrific cast supporting that, we find ourselves in the middle of some strange bargaining or fact findings; is he gay, impotent, depressed? The fact that she loves him so, she’s willing to explore every angle. His retorts are one for the books and that’s what makes this love story so charming, so truthfully sad, so appealing, so funny…so Irish. It’s as if they do live on opposite sides of the world.
Putting shy and almost childlike Anthony up against outgoing, speak your mind Rosemary doesn’t seem ‘fair and balanced’ but in Shanley’s world and you will agree it is indeed balanced.
Husband and wife teams of Robert Smyth and Deborah Gilmour Smyth and Rachael Van Wormer and husband Brian Mackey as partners yet adversaries give the whole look a more intimate and convincing spark to it according to the troika of directors, Robert Smyth, Kerry Meads and Deborah Gilmour Smyth.
Yours truly found the acting somewhat uneven at times especially when Miss Van Wormer was yelling her lines so much so that it was difficult to understand what she was saying. But in the final scene between Tony and Anthony as Tony lay dying it made up for all the difficulties and shortcomings of the production. Both father and son (in the play) broke your hearts and brought a tear or two to the eyes
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| Brian and Rachael |
And yet, on a more positive note Van Wormer’s Rosemary leads Anthony on a path to giving him every reason to either accept her as she is, letting her love him as deeply as she knows how or giving him the option to walk away, and if that's the case, she bares her soul, her love and is ready to give him her heart. It’s a gift, a love story and a winner.
Enjoy.
See you at the theatre.
Mike Buckley designed the minimalist set, Nathan Peirson the lighting, Jemima Dutra costume and Jillian Frost, dialect coach.
When: Opens Jan. 13 and runs through March 3rd.
Showtimes: 2 and 7 p.m. Wednesdays; 7 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; 2 and 7 p.m. Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays
Where: Lamb’s Players Theatre, 1142 Orange Ave., Coronado
Tickets: $28-$82
Phone: (619) 437-6000
Photo: Ken Jaques and Lamb’s Players Theatre
Online: lambsplayers.org
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