MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2019 THEATER: "Dublin Carol" Hits a Mournful But Hopeful Note DUBLIN CAROL ** 1/2 out of **** IRISH REPERTORY THEATRE The new spoof Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation has fun teasing the recent Broadway drama The Ferryman.</p><p> That show brimmed over with children and drinking and the Troubles, so Forbidden Broadway sings the question: "What is the state of Irish drama?" The answer? "Grim, grim, grim." Well, the Irish Rep tackles what might be playwright Conor McPherson's idea of a holiday show.</p><p> You''ll find loads of drinking andtroubles (if not THE Troubles) and the tone is indeed grim, along with some black humor.</p><p> But given its setting on Christmas Eve, at least Dublin Carol has the grace to avoid crushing your spirit completely.</p><p> It features a small, wavering candle flame of hope at the very end.</p><p> I'lltake it.</p><p> Still, it's no surprise the holiday setting has not fooled Irish Rep into delivering this play during the actual holidays.</p><p> Dublin Carol ends its run before Thanksgiving and the Irish Rep offers the enjoyablenonsense of a London Assurance revival through the New Year.</p><p> This is the sixth play by McPherson revived by the company (including their exceptional production of The Weir ).</p><p> Here's hoping they keep working their way through his body of work.</p><p> Maybe a double bill of the one acts This Lime Tree Bower and Come On Over is next? And is it too soon to bring back The Night Alive? McPherson and the Irish Rep are lucky to have one another.</p><p> Still, this is my first time seeing it and I'm not quite sure what I think of the play.</p><p> Or, rather, I'm not sure if it's the play or the productionthat doesn't quite satisfy.MICHAEL GILTZ AT WORK Michael Giltz is a freelance writer based in NYC and can be reached atmgiltz@pipeline.com FAVORITE LINKS Americablog Five O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's Blog The Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPN Radio Cine-Blog -- George Robinson's Blog Documents On Art & Cinema - Daryl Chin's Blog Brucie G's Wondrous Blog Of Adventure and Mystery -- Bruce Greenspan's Blog BLOG ARCHIVE ▼ 2019 (81) ► November (1) ▼ October (21) BOOKS: Don't Bother Trying ToThe story is a familiar one, somehow.</p><p> John Plunkett is a sad wreck of a man, an alcoholic whose eyes are always darting towards a bottle...orstudiously trying not to look at a bottle calling to him.</p><p> He's the senior man in charge of a funeral parlor while the owner is slowly dying inhospital.</p><p> It's Christmas Eve, 1999, and John is teaching the new ladMark the ropes.</p><p> They've just finished working a job and Mark perks upa bit when John insists he was grand, proved a natural at what was apparently Mark's first assignment.</p><p> Sitting in a tatty, tired office decorated with a few modest holiday decorations, Mark sits with Johnfor a few minutes and then makes to go.</p><p> John leaps to his feet, offering a cookie, another drink, another task -- anything to keep the lad from leaving him alone.</p><p> John's story poursout of him: a marriage ruined by drink, a son who is too much like hisdad, a daughter he hasn't seen in years.</p><p> You've heard it all before.Mark should be off duty but he is dragooned into doing the same jobhe did at the funeral: sitting around looking politely mournful while other people vent their emotions or struggle not to let go.</p><p> In the next scene, John's daughter Mary shows up with painful news.</p><p> John's wife is also in hospital and dying.</p><p> Mary urges him to visit today,assuming he can stay somewhat sober.</p><p> He can't quite believe his presence is welcome, but Mary says it is.</p><p> Soon they're trading painful tales.</p><p> Mary describes John's dreadful behavior and then John tops herwith even more self-flagellation.</p><p> In the show's best moment, Johninsists he can't say he's sorry because that's such a pathetic requestgiven the damage he's done...and then he drops to his knees and begs for it anyway.</p><p> In the third and final scene, Mark returns for his pay but John is too distraught and too drunk to have bothered with a trip to the bank.</p><p> Heclings to the lad but is soon alone with his thoughts and memories.</p><p> Alone on Christmas Eve, with his daughter soon to return, John wrestles with the bottle and his desire to maybe take one small steptowards redemption.</p><p> Maybe, for just a minute, he can play a carol on"Find Me" THEATER: "The Sound Inside" Gets Muffled By Final...</p><p> THEATER: Stuff and Nonsense for Friendly Crowds --...</p><p> THEATER: "Scotland, PA" or, The Bloody King Of Bur...</p><p> THEATER: "For Colored Girls" Returns.</p><p> Finally! 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A Halloween Scare Fest Closes Its Ey...</p><p> THEATER: "A(loft) Modulation" -- A Play With Jazz ...</p><p> THEATER: "Freestyle Love Supreme" and "DerrenBrow...</p><p> BOOKS: A Fantasy Classic Finally Translated Into E... ► September (10) ► August (9) ► July (7)the radio, put out some poor excuse for a gift (probably grabbed at the local chemists) and not screw things up.</p><p> Maybe.</p><p> While the elements may be familiar, there's no reason on God's green earth that Dublin Carol couldn't be so specific it came to life.</p><p> Or it might surprise in some way, such as The Seafarer, where the Devil manages to shake up another familiar tale.</p><p> But Dublin Carol does not offer an unexpected surprise or the shiver of familiarity, the momentwhere you think, "I know this person." Instead you think, "I know thisplay." Still, the tech elements are spot-on and it's directed ably if without fire by Ciarán O'Reilly.</p><p> The cast is fine.</p><p> Sarah Street has the most detailed and vigorous character in Mary, a woman who isn't there to condemn or hold hands.</p><p> Cillian Hegarty's Mark is harder to pin down.</p><p> I've no idea what kind ofperson Mark might be.</p><p> But it's notable that Mark spends much of theplay listening and Hegarty felt alive and present with nothing more torely on than his own stage presence.</p><p> I look forward to seeing his nextrole.</p><p> Jeffrey Bean has by far the biggest part as John, which means heeither lets the play down a tad or reveals its limitations.</p><p> Still, he's not bad (cruel compliment, that), just...unsurprising.</p><p> That's the same complaint I've made throughout and it holds.</p><p> Like a new holiday song hoping for airplay alongside "Jingle Bells" and "Fairytale Of New York," Dublin Carol must compete with the other strong plays by McPherson, not to mention every drama ever made to justify its existence.</p><p> In this production, it strikes a note too similar todistinguish it from so many other shows that have come before.</p><p> THEATER OF 2019 Frankenstein: Under The Radar Fest at the Public ** 1/2 Minor Character: Under The Radar Festival at the Public *** Ink: Under The Radar Festival at the Public ** 1/2 Choir Boy ** 1/2 White Noise ** 1/2 Kiss Me, Kate *** Ain't No Mo' *** 1/2 Ain't Too Proud ** The Cradle Will Rock * 1/2 Mrs.</p><p> Murray's Menagerie *** 1/2 Oklahoma! 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