Sawtooth Productions to present John Patrick Shanley play
By Dana DuGan
John Patrick Shanley is a fairly prolific playwright who pens witty and engaging dramas with complex characters, such as “Doubt” and “Moonstruck,” both of which were made into hit movies.
Sawtooth Productions, in association with Laughing Stock Theatre Company, will stage Shanley’s 2014 Tony Award-nominated play, “Outside Mullingar,” at the Argyros Performing Arts Center in Ketchum, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, through Sunday, April 7. There will be a matinee at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, April 7.
The play concerns a quartet of neighbors in a small Irish town: a mother and daughter grieving the death of their husband and father, and an elderly father and son grappling with their own situation.
“The play takes place soon after the Irish economic boom and bust known at the Celtic Tiger,” said Paul Lazar, director. “In a subtle way, that disaster is a background presence against which timeless issues are passionately grappled with: love and death. And all of it done with immense humor.”
Meanwhile, there are issues that tie, and repel, the two families. Anthony’s father, played by Andrew Alburger, is involved in a small land feud with his neighbor, Aoife Muldoon. And there are long-simmering feelings between Anthony, played by David Janeski, and Rosemary, played by Aly Wepplo.
“Their journey is heartbreaking, funny as hell, and ultimately deeply moving,” said Jonathan Kane, producer of Sawtooth Productions. “Outside Mullingar is a compassionate, delightful work about how it’s never too late to take a chance on love.”
Shanley was inspired to write the play after traveling with his father to visit relatives in Ireland. Watching his unmarried cousin interact with the lovely, single woman on the farm next door opened a window into Shanley’s imagination.
The actors, who are using an Irish dialect, seem to connect to Shanley and the play on some level.
“I love Shanley,” said Claudia McCain, who plays Aoife. “I have performed in another of his shows, and readings of some of his plays, as well as watching them here and in New York. Plus, I had the good fortune of meeting him when he was here with Company of Fools. He is so gifted with language.”
McCain added that she’d seen the play when it was staged on Broadway in 2014.
“I came out of the theater with a smile and a full heart,” she said. “It’s so charming, engaging, and rich. Now, being a part of it, I have continued to find more humor, wisdom, love and honesty. It’s quirky and endearing. It really is a love letter.”
Janeski paraphrased the author, “The Irish have a way of speaking plainly, saying terrible things to each other in a charming way,” he said. “At the heart of this brooding landscape is a passionate romance that will be discovered against all obstacles.”
The New York Times wrote in a review that the play was “Mr. Shanley’s finest work since ‘Doubt’… a softhearted comedy freckled with dark reflections on the unsatisfactory nature of life and the thorns of love.”
Indeed, conflict—which makes the world go round, and stories written about it—is everywhere.
Wepplo said her character, Rosemary, has “been in love with her next-door neighbor, Anthony Reilly, all her life. But she’s ‘stubborn to the point of madness,’ and will wait the rest of her life for him to make the first move.”
And yet, there is poignancy within each circle of connection.
“This show is highly relatable because it is about family—how we hold together or not, and why we do,” McCain said. “As my character says: ‘Time means nothing, Love is love.’”
The production of “Outside Mullingar” will be the first staged theatrical production at the Argyros Performing Arts Center.
“We’re very excited to be the first,” Kane said.
He has tech crew from New York City aiding in the process. The set is designed by Andreea Mincic, lighting design is by Lucrecia Briceno, and sound and projection by Eamonn Farrell. Briceno and Farrell worked on Kane’s productions of “My Name Is Rachel Corrie” in San Francisco and New York. As well, Farrell also worked on the Sawtooth Productions’ staging of “Buyer & Cellar” at Whiskey Jacques’ last year.
“They’re the key to how great this production is going to be,” Kane said. “As is my director, Paul Lazar, also from New York. We are really lucky to have him. He’s a superstar of New York’s downtown theatre scene; he replaced Willem DeFoe in the Worcester Group.”
Kane, who has been presenting theatre readings and productions for 20 years, said he has a “dream cast” for this show.
“I’m a huge Shanley fan,” Kane said. “With this play he shows what a great writer he is. It didn’t play long on Broadway, but it’s setting box office records at top regional theatres around the country. It’s got dark Irish humor, which I love. Aly and David—who’re married in real life—are incredible. And Claudia and Andrew are so funny in it. I couldn’t be happier with this cast. And it’s going to look so good. The design elements are unlike anything people might have seen in the Valley before.”
For tickets to “Outside Mullingar,” visit sawtoothproductionsllc.com, or theargyros.org.