J. Clark Nicholson, Michael Bush & Ryan Hicks. Photo by John Bivins Photography.
In stark contrast to the rollicking, Kelly green, American version of Ireland that comes alive this time of year for St. Patrick’s Day, Gamut Theatre and Narҫisse Theatre partner to present a grimmer slice of Ireland from the turn of the 20th century.
“Thistle & Salt: The Ireland of J.M. Synge,” is formatted as two one-act plays: “Riders to the Sea” and “In the Shadow of the Glen.”
While the Gaelic language is itself lyrical and lovely to the ears, and Synge carefully composes his characters’ dialogue like a song, the themes and plots of his stories were surely written with ink distilled from the muck at the bottom of Galway Bay. The drips and drabs of humor that peek out from the covers is so dark, it’s dank.
We don’t meet the Irish literary renaissance poet John Millington Synge, but his contemporary, William Butler Yeats (Clark Nicholson), narrates Synge’s 37 short years. Yeats relays the story that executors found Synge’s papers. Of great concern to Synge himself: He did not want “good things destroyed or bad things published in haste.”
Both plays move slightly slowly, but you’ll need that built-in lag time for your brain to process the dialogue, which is thick at times. For being of a gentler pace, Synge’s works are not cozy. His sets his glum characters in circumstances both morose and sparsely mundane.
“In the Shadow of the Glen” is a tale of physical survival amidst mental anguish. Nora Burke (Erika Eberly) is stuck in a loveless marriage to a cantankerous old man. She is equal parts “afeared,” lonely for affection, and entrenched in resentment while doing all the chores. When it appears as if the husband is freshly dead and laid out in the parlor, Nora has a suitor already lined up. Then A Tramp (Ryan Hicks) knocks on her door one stormy evening.
Eberly and Hicks display a perfect amount of foreshadowing, subtle chemistry and trust between strangers. And Daniel Burke (Michael J. Bush) is darkly funny as the maniacal husband who is so bored that he cruelly pretends to be dead just to amuse himself.
“Riders to the Sea” is a dramatic, suspenseful story about succumbing to nature. Grieving mother Maurya (Susan Banks) is riddled with fear about losing more sons to an ocean that has already claimed four of them, her husband, and her father-in-law. Banks, along with daughters Cathleen (Madison Eppley) and Nora (Abby Carroll) reach deep into their innards to portray the torment of fresh grief that simultaneously rips scabs off old wounds of loss.
The gutting action in this play spares no feelings, showing the raw materials for a coffin propped against the chimney, as well as fresh contents for that coffin. Bravo to Bartley (Matthew Hogan) for lying absolutely still, and brava to Kim Greenawalt and Eberly for their keening (mournful wailing) skills.
Sláinte to all the actors for preserving the intent of the Gaelic language while still modernizing it to help the audience follow along. The Gaelic brogue is inherently a bit mumbled and slurred no matter the amount of alcohol the characters consume, so check your program’s glossary when you need subtitles. The language is poetry, but it demands your attention to fully absorb it.
The plays double down on the depression all the way through to their gloomy endings. Because these plays do not end happily, and they further leave the audience wondering how the characters’ lives unfold after the proverbial curtain falls, these one-acts were natural choices for Director FL Henley and his penchant for presenting plays with “no happy endings, and sometimes no endings.”
Both Gamut Theatre and Narҫisse Theatre take risks in the assortment of theater they produce, diving into obscure and/or difficult material, as well as thoughtful experimentation. In this partnership, both companies push the boundaries to deliver us something authentic – an un-sanitized, un-romanticized Ireland, un-celebrated with a parade or green beer.
“Thistle & Salt: The Ireland of J.M. Synge” runs until March 19 at Gamut Theatre. Find more information at www.gamuttheatre.org/ and on Facebook.
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