First Irish Theatre Festival

A Night With George – Irish Examiner USA review

lucyhk — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 21:36:08 +0000

“There are a lot of laughs in this deadpan show, thanks to snappy quips and deadpan delivery. Tony Devlin’s lively direction keeps the pace high…many of Bridie’s frank observations have stuck with me, and there’s something grand about finding so much humor and heart in this particular situation.” Read more

Reflections – Irish Examiner USA review

lucyhk — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 21:11:12 +0000

The two plays take place before and after the Good Friday Agreement…it’s just the kind of creative theatricality you’d hope to see from a new play company, and it’s made me eager to see more of their work…the pairing of the two plays, with Andy Mac’s unusual framing songs, and Nance’s vibrant performances, make the evening powerfully provocative. Read more

Reflections – backstage.com review

lucyhk — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 21:05:32 +0000

Sincerity oozes from every pore in this one-woman double-header…As both Karen and Noreen, Paula Nance skillfully differentiates the two women. Karen is weighty, tired, and defeated, aware that her prime is fast slipping away. Noreen is lighter, brighter, wistful, yet angry and full of frustration. “You’re from where you’re from,” she says. “You can’t change it.” Directed with vigor by Jo Cattell, “Reflections” benefits greatly from the music by Andy Mac, which he plays on his guitar. Read more

Noah & the Tower Flower – The New York Times Review

lucyhk — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:58:40 +0000

‘The playwright mixes the compassion of Conor McPherson with the grittiness of Irvine Welsh…several memorable moments, some gentle, some dark…(the actors) have chemistry and it comes through in their characters…damaged souls who you’ve come to care about’ Read more

Noah & the Tower Flower – New York Theatre Review

lucyhk — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:51:35 +0000

The title of Noah and the Tower Flower conjures something heady, beautiful and delicate encased in the form of a hard-edged edifice, the deepest reaches of which (that would be the top) may be nearly impenetrable. And so it is with the tender connection that begins to bloom between the two characters in this play by Sean McLoughlin, a production from the Dublin company Fishamble playing at The Drilling Company as part of the 1st Irish Festival 2011, an annual spate of Irish theater in New York. The hands these two vulnerable people have been dealt in life have sheathed their soft hearts inside tough, thorny, sometimes twisted exteriors. When they manage to break through and reach each other, it feels like spring’s first pale green shoots pushing through frozen hard ground. Read more

Lucia’s Chapters of Coming Forth By Day – Culturebot.net

lucyhk — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:35:08 +0000

I went in not knowing what to expect and found myself thoroughly delighted. Maleczech is riveting as the elderly Lucia, deftly weaving in and out of lucidity, from coherence to stream-of-consciousness, from bitter old woman to fetching young ingenue. It is a remarkable performance. And it makes you realize how few fully-realized, complex and layered parts there are for older people – especially women. Read more

Lucia’s Chapters of Coming Forth by Day – New York Theatre Review

lucyhk — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:20:45 +0000

“Bad news: I’m dead.” With these words the ferocious stage presence that is Ruth Maleczech ushers us into the world of Lucia Joyce, daughter of novelist James Joyce, who while still in her prime was institutionalized despite no convincing diagnosis of mental illness, and left to languish.

The good news is that Maleczech’s Lucia may be dead, but she has a lot to share with us nonetheless. Some of the show’s overarching ideas—how a parent’s brilliance can unintentionally sap and eventually crush, even terrorize, his offspring; that some people create while others are doomed to merely inspire; what happens when someone feeds off another’s inner life without putting back in what they take—fascinate to the point where they are much of what this evening is about. But Maleczech’s humanity and overwhelming skill give the play’s swirling notions, and the spirit of Lucia herself, a body and a voice. Read more

Lucia’s Chapters of Coming Forth by Day – backstage.com review (CRITIC’S PICK)

lucyhk — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:07:15 +0000

Fogarty’s play is admirably constructed, a monument to a lost life, but a lesser actor might make it a snoozer. Maleczech turns her old age into a weapon, daring us to dismiss her (and Lucia) as a relic. A dragon protecting the cave of her secrets, all written down in the “chapter book” she clutches to her side, Maleczech’s Lucia is fueled by the magnitude of her wretchedness. By the time she dances her manic final dance, she has made the case that to ignore Lucia Joyce—and Ruth Maleczech—is to disregard a treasure in our midst. Read more

Bogboy – New York Irish Arts review

lucyhk — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 21:58:09 +0000

Deirdre Kinahan’s play Bogboy, appearing as part of the 1st Irish Festival ) at the Irish Arts Center , presses so heavily on the heart that it’s released only in tears. But there’s a good bit of laughter, thanks to strong act-ing from Sorcha Fox (who was so good in The Cambria at Irish Arts Center), who plays Brigit, and Steve Blount, who plays Hugie (Noelle Brownand Emmet Kirwan are also good in their smaller roles, but the play is not about them), and to Kinahan’s deft fish-out-of- water character. Read more

Temporal Powers – Irish Examiner USA review

lucyhk — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 21:45:02 +0000

If you had the good fortune to see the Mint’s production of Wife to James Whelan last year, directed, like this one, by Mint Artistic Director Jonathan Bank, you will expect surprise, insight and subtlety in the script, and color, nuance and depth in the performances. You won’t be wrong. Temporal Powers is unmissable. Not only by anybody interested in Irish theatre history, to whom the truly wonderful work on reclaiming Deevy from obscurity feels like a miracle, but also by anybody interested in good theatre. Note that I didn’t write “Irish theatre.” The skill Deevy demonstrated in her plotting and characterization should always have been honored, anthologized, shared, as much as any O’Casey. Read more