Don’t be put off by the title of Irish playwright Conor McPherson’s 2000 drama “Dublin Carol,” which is receiving its area premiere courtesy of Quotidian Theatre Company. Thankfully, this is not a remake or parody of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” (Lord knows the world certainly doesn’t need another one of those.) In fact, the only things the two have in common are a Christmas setting and a protagonist who has more than his share of regrets.
The main character in “Dublin Carol” is John Plunkett (John Decker), a lonely old man who manages a funeral parlor in Dublin. John seems like an amiable enough fellow, but he has been long estranged from his wife and children because of heavy drinking and abandoning them for another woman. It is Christmas Eve, and John has just learned that his wife is in the hospital dying of cancer, a dark irony that he fully appreciates.
