For all their differences, all the great Irish playwrights share one thing in common: a love of language, an ability to tell a story that sounds pleasing to the ear while speaking to the mind. So it’s curious that the first thing that one notices about Irish playwright Matthew J. Keenan’s “An Irish Carol,” produced by the Keegan Theatre, is that it’s written in bald, unenticing prose. Of course being Irish shouldn’t require one to be a poet, but we’ve come to expect rich subtext underneath melodic exposition in our Irish plays. And in “An Irish Carol,” a more lyrical voice would cover up the fact that it’s basically just another bar play, set in a place where strangers and friends meet, drink, talk, drink and bare their souls.
“An Irish Carol” is set in Dublin on Christmas Eve. There are the usual suspects who drink too much, beginning with the owner of the bar, David (Kevin Adams) and his jovial patrons Jim (David Jourdan) and Frank (Timothy Lynch). The plot is slim, built around the fact that David is a cranky old geezer who is a direct descendant of Dickens’ Scrooge.
| Onstage |
| ‘An Irish Carol’ |
| » Where: The Keegan Theatre, Church Street Theatre, 1742 Church Street, NW |
| » When: Through December 31 |
| » Info: $30 to $35; 703-892-0202; keegantheatre.com |
When his brother, Michael (Mike Kozemchak) invites him to Christmas Eve dinner, David refuses to go. But David’s bad temper is not just a seasonal disorder. He has been grumpy for 30 years and people avoid him like the plague. Even the promise of a good business deal from a young businessman, Simon (Jon Townson), can’t lift his spirits.
The reason for David’s funk has to do with love lost, but 30 years is a long time to hold a grudge. What makes David finally let his guard down is a contrivance straight out of 19th century well-made playwriting: a letter, brought to David by his ex-friend, Richard (Mick Tinder).
Like a gun onstage that is bound by all the laws of dramaturgy to go off, the letter is bound to be opened and read. When it is, David’s attitude is changed and he sees the light. Creaky, yes, but Adams handles his enlightenment well, just as he handled his bad temper well.
All the visitors to the bar portray their characters credibly enough. Susan Marie Rhea distinguishes herself as the lone woman, Simon’s fiancee. Josh Sticklin plays Bartek, David’s Polish employee, with an intriguing light touch.
Mark A. Rhea’s set is a marvelously realistic bar, above which is a huge realm of old stuff, including chairs, a clarinet, a suitcase, a saxophone, perhaps suggesting David’s unrealized dreams. Rhea directs the play smoothly, letting the comings and goings of visitors to the bar feel like the easy ebb and flow of some great pacific ocean.
