Brendan: An Irish-American Personal Expedition
A new play by Ronan Noone at the Calderwood Pavillion.
By: Mark Favermann - Oct 29, 2007
by Ronan Noone
Directed by Justin Waldman
At the Wimberly Theatre
The Calderwood Pavillion of the Huntington Theatre
Located at Boston Center for the Arts
Approximate Running Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
10/12/2007 – 11/17/2007
It is always interesting to see a younger playwright wrestle with his muses. The Huntington Theatre Company encourages this process through its annual Breaking Ground Festival of new-play readings. Both the previous Atheist, which is about a corrupt Kansas journalist, and the current production, Brendan, got their starts at the Huntington. Playwright Ronan Noone, who moved to Boston in 1994, calls Brendan his transition play. The language and the rhythms have diverged from the traditional framework Noone has previously worked within. This is because his own perspective has clearly changed from a more Irish verbally volumetric to an American succinctness.
Set in contemporary Boston, this play is about an everyman immigrant navigating life in a new country while trying to find himself as a person. Action is focused upon a sometimes clueless often feckless individual, Brendan. Played skillfully by Dashiell Eaves, he is an extremely reluctant protagonist who is buffeted and rocked and nearly drowned by waves of his painful familial Irish past, his lonely Irish-American present and his hopeful American future. Starting with devastating news from his sister in Ireland, the play expresses the challenges of the exiled loner looking for upward mobility, companionship and even love.
There is an oddly magnetic sister/mother Greek Chorus woman character played intensely by Nancy E. Caroll. She acts as Brendan's voice in his mind. The ghost of Christmas, Easter and family past, she seems to question his very being almost until the play's end. Her biting criticizing of him helps to paint in Brendan's psychological history. Note: This woman character smoked cigarettes. There was a very polite note on the door of the entrance to the Calderwood explaining this to the audience. I never saw this before.
Learning to drive is a symbol of Brendan's American Dream: the ability to move up and along by his own means. His driving instructor is a bouncy and bountiful prostitute, Maria, that not only gives him his manhood (she devirginized him) but also teaches him to drive himself, literally to be on his own. Maria is played warmly by the appealingly curvaceous Kelly McAndrew. She is lady bountiful whose plush comforts seem to please every man, but is rejected by conventional society. Is Noone suggesting pleasure is evil or at least anti-social? Or, is he stating the more obvious that our pleasures need to be private, and when exposed are misunderstood by the community? Or perhaps both? Is the author suggesting that personal things should remain personal? I think so.
Brendan's love interest was Rose who was played in an energetic yet thoughtfully self-protective manner by Natalie Gold. Just as Brendan was psychologically marked by his past, Rose was literally marked by a large birthmark on her face. Like everyone, her seeming perfection was strongly flawed. Rose mirrored Brendan in shyness, character restraint and even distrustfulness. Her occupation was as a manager of a Stop and Shop. I assume that this was a metaphor for the problem and necessary process of meeting the right person.
Although the Atheist was performed first, Brendan is the first of Noone's American works written. The author considers Brendan a comedy. I found the play much more clever than comical. Its poignancy outweighed its attempt at any wistfulness. Here was Irish-American angst light, more Guinness on tap than single malt Bushmills. Drawn as types rather than as individuals, several of the male characters were interchangeable for me, and in fact many of the actors played a number of parts. That said, the leads made you want to know more about their characters. Perhaps, a little more Irish Cream was needed to round out all of the characterizations.
Brendan is an Irish-American story presented both as a metaphorical unfolding, demonstrating a sense of personal growth and at times following a rather clumsy journey. There is not much to dislike about the main characters, much of the narrative development or the conclusion/ending. However, I found the secondary roles for the most part weaker and less humanistically convincing. Was this the acting, the directing or the writing? However, this should not stop anyone from spending an enjoyable 90 minutes getting slightly out of themselves by watching Brendan.
Elegant and creatively intelligent without theatrically being over the top, the set design by Alexander Dodge was noteworthy. Costumes by Mirtam Verheyen were understated but worked well. Though born and raised in Ireland, Huntington Playwriting Fellow Boston-based Ronan Noone is considered one of America's top young playwrights. Besides The Atheist, his other works include the acclaimed trilogy The Lepers of Baile Baiste (National Playwriting Award), The Blowin of Baile Gall (Elliot Norton Award for Best New Play), and The Gigolo Confessions of Baile Breag. That play was also directed by current director Justin Waldman.
Brendan is a play to go see. Ronan Noone is a playwright to watch.
The Cast
Brendan Dashiell Eaves
Woman Nancy E. Carroll
Fred, et al Cliff Odle
Josh, et al Tommy Schrider
Bum, et al Bradley Thoennes
Daisy, et al Kathleen McElfresh
Steveo, et al Ciaran Crawford
Rose Natalie Gold
Maria Kelly McAndrew
The Staff
Playwright Ronan Noone
Director Justin Waldman
Scenic Designer Alexander Dodge
Costume Designer Mariann Verheyen
Lighting Designer Jeff Croiter
Sound Designer Fitz Patton
Casting Director Alaine Alldaffer, C.S.A.
Production Stage Mngr Eileen Ryan Kelly
Stage Manager Kelly Beaulieu