Fusion of Irish Pessimism and American Optimism
I went solo to John Patrick Shanley’s play Outside Mullingar, at Seattle Rep, because once I mentioned that it took place in Ireland, everybody made their excuses, expecting one of those violent alcohol soaked plays laden with extra helpings of Irish Alzheimer’s, (which is when you forget everything but your grudges.) Much to my surprise, this play dealt with Irish family life realistically yet optimistically and was thoroughly entertaining and endearing.
Sticking to its Irish setting, the plot revolves around the classic Irish question: who will “Da” leave the farm to and its subsidiary question- are those 40 year-old Irish bachelors, waiting to inherit the farm, ever going to get married? The impact of having relatives in the New World ready to buy the farm and the difficulty of courtship in a very small village, as well as Irish sexual repression, due to well-founded fears of over-population, along with extremely witty poetic language, creates a Celtic stew worthy of three Michelin stars.
Sean G. Griffin plays Tony Reilly, an overbearing cantankerous widower living with his 40-year old bachelor son, Anthony Reilly played by M.J. Sieber. As he sits with Oeife Muldoon played by Kimberly King, the recently widowed neighbor, from the adjoining farm, the two discuss the future of the two farms and whether they could ever get Rosemary Muldoon, aged 35, and Anthony Reilly to marry, produce some children and keep the farms in the family.
The only obstacles to Rosemary and Anthony marrying are internal, and the playwright wrote hilarious scenes in which their shyness, fear of the consequences of rejection (when they will have to spend the rest of their lives next door to each other in a small tight-knit community) her smoking and general Irish verbal combativeness keep them apart.
In terms of the writing, Shanley threw in something quite unique and unexpected at the audience-an Irish Catholic who actually incorporates the concepts of contrition and forgiveness into his daily life. On his death-bed, Da Reilly, makes amends to his son for undermining him and judging him unworthy to inherit the farm and humbly asks for forgiveness. Sean G. Griffin, as Da Reilly, kept the audience on the edge of their seats as he delivered one of the most heart-felt monologues I have ever seen on any stage, anywhere.
The “wooing” scene between Anthony and Rosemary is one of the least romantic but most amusing courtships since Petruchio’s proposal to Kate. Emily Chisholm as Rosemary brought out the shyness behind her aggressive manoeuvers and M.J. Sieber’s embarrassment at his procrastination was truly entertaining. The pas-de-deux these two endulged in brought the house down with uproarious laughter.
Just to make it perfectly clear to the audience what life was like on a farm in Ireland and to highlight the curious relationship the Irish have to their country, on the one hand, they love it and on the other hand they love to hate it, rain was present on stage in copious quantities and started and ended almost every scene. We know there is a happy ending because the sun begins to shine.
As far as the set designed went, while it did look like a farm, it actually looked like a brand new farm in the U.S. with lots of corrugated metal. As a building material N.B. corrugated metal rusts very quickly in a rainy climate. I haven’t been to Ireland since 1972 but in those days the farm buildings were made of stone and a farm which had been in the family for 120 years, as it says in the text, would surely have been made of stone. Since the set was elaborate, it was odd that Patrick Lynch, the director put in this inauthentic detail.
This play is really worth seeing. John Patrick Shanley, who also wrote the filmscript for Moonstruck and the play Doubt, captured the Irish poetic dialect in his writing, wrote a cheerful upbeat play without betraying the serious conflicts which exist not only in Ireland but everywhere with humor.
Outside Mullingar. Seattle Repertory Theatre. Seattle Center 305 Harrison Seattle. Tues -Sun. Thru May 17, Tickets https://www.seattlerep.org/Plays/1415/OM/Dates