This is a perfect time for local fans of modern Irish theater. Signature is doing Martin McDonagh’s “The Lieutenant of Inishmore,” and now Solas Nua is presenting the United States premiere of Gerald Murphy’s 2004 comedy “Take Me Away.” While “Take Me Away” isn’t as gruesome as the McDonagh play, this is nonetheless a fairly dark work even though the one act of physical violence is self-inflicted.
To say that “Take Me Away” deals with a dysfunctional family would be an understatement. We are first introduced to three brothers: Bren (Jared Hill Mercier), a security guard who spends most of his free time surfing the Web for porn; Andy (Alex Vernon), a perpetually immature slacker with a girlfriend and baby son; and Kevin (Kevin O’Reilly), the youngest of the family who seems to be the most successful of the three of them even though he isn’t exactly the brightest bulb in the marquee.
When we finally meet their father, Eddie (Joe Cronin), it becomes clear why the boys are all arrested adolescents, seeing as he is every bit as neurotic as his offspring. Eddie has assembled the clan at Bren’s house on the pretext of visiting their mother in the hospital, but it soon becomes clear from his evasive manner that something more troubling is going on.
While the above might not sound terribly amusing, Murphy successfully mines a vein of sharp, nasty humor not unlike Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” It would seem that just about the only thing this family excels at is insulting and laying guilt trips on each other.
Under Linda Murray’s direction, all four of the actors give wonderfully understated comic performances that stop short of caricature, with Cronin’s bombastic Eddie and Vernon’s sly, mendacious Andy proving especially effective.
With the exception of Marianne Meadows’ lighting, this is a family affair for Solas Nua, with Murray and her producer (and husband) Dan Brick handling everything else including props, costumes, sound and the set. “Take Me Away” might not have the flashiness of that other Irish comedy in town, but it still remains a prime example of achieving excellence on a meager budget.
If you go
Solas Nua’s production of “Take Me Away” runs through Oct. 26
Venue: The Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint, 916 G St. NW, Washington
Performances: 8 p.m. Thursday through Friday and 3 p.m. Sunday
Tickets: $20
More info: 800-494-8497; solasnua.org
