REVIEWS & PRESS
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| Matrix Theatre 7657 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles 90046 (323) 852-1445 info@salemktheatreco.org |
LA WEEKLY
February 18, 2008
It sometimes seems that Irish writers are the only ones who can still write a traditional, realistic genre drama with conviction, and
without deconstructing, satirizing or saturating it in irony. Billy Roche's play is set in a betting shop in the town of Wexford, during
the All-Ireland Hurling Finals. Ten years ago, local bad boy Danger Doyle (Andrew Connolly) ran off to England with the wife of
ineffectual Steven (Michael O'Hagan), who runs the betting shop with the assistance of his pretty daughter, Eileen (Kate Steele). In
his absence, Danger has been mythologized by young Georgie (Christopher Carley) and Joe (Kevin Kearns). When Danger
unexpectedly returns as a diminished figure, but still strong and undeluded, his arrival is the catalyst for disillusion among the
others, including his bitter former lover, Molly (Joanne Whalley). He tells her, "Whatever it is you think I took from you, I haven't got
it." It's a skillfully written piece, beautifully acted and finely articulated by director Wilson Milam. Laura Fine Hawke provides the
large, detailed and atmospheric set.
February 18, 2008
It sometimes seems that Irish writers are the only ones who can still write a traditional, realistic genre drama with conviction, and
without deconstructing, satirizing or saturating it in irony. Billy Roche's play is set in a betting shop in the town of Wexford, during
the All-Ireland Hurling Finals. Ten years ago, local bad boy Danger Doyle (Andrew Connolly) ran off to England with the wife of
ineffectual Steven (Michael O'Hagan), who runs the betting shop with the assistance of his pretty daughter, Eileen (Kate Steele). In
his absence, Danger has been mythologized by young Georgie (Christopher Carley) and Joe (Kevin Kearns). When Danger
unexpectedly returns as a diminished figure, but still strong and undeluded, his arrival is the catalyst for disillusion among the
others, including his bitter former lover, Molly (Joanne Whalley). He tells her, "Whatever it is you think I took from you, I haven't got
it." It's a skillfully written piece, beautifully acted and finely articulated by director Wilson Milam. Laura Fine Hawke provides the
large, detailed and atmospheric set.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
February 15, 2008
In Irish folklore, the hero Oshin dwells in the land of eternal youth. Slowly he comes to miss his friends and ventures to Earth once
more. But the moment he steps foot on the ground, time rushes up around him, and he's turned into an old man.
Billy Roche's "Poor Beast in the Rain," the absorbing inaugural production by the new Salem K Theatre Company, offers a modern
version of that myth. In mid-1980s Ireland, the regulars at a Wexford betting shop run by taciturn Steven (Michael O'Hagan) and his
daughter, Eileen (Kate Steele), gather to crank up for the Hurling Finals.
Turns out the real suspense isn't about the game but the reappearance of Danger Doyle (Andrew Connolly), the dashing bad boy
who ran off with Steven's young wife. Eileen pines for her ma, oblivious to the love-struck Georgie (Christopher Carley); Danger's
old mate, Joe (Kevin Kearns), can't wait to relive his wild youth, while a torn-up Molly (Joanne Whalley) torches for Danger.
This prodigal has been made into a legend by people who don't know how to move on, and his return sets their mythmaking to the
test. But if Danger back in town doesn't quite set off the fireworks the play promises, that's half the point. Director Wilson Milam's
intimate production compels less through plot than with lived-in verité. We feel like eavesdroppers at a corner table in set
designer Laura Fine Hawkes' grungy shop, all chalk dust and sticky counters, and the fine ensemble work on view will strengthen
as the run continues. Carley brims with clammy youth, while Whalley and Connolly spark and burn.
Roche has an easy way with local talk: Joe says of the slim Eileen: "there's more meat on a butcher's apron"; Molly dismisses a
young flirt as "the latest little tearaway." That old Irish turn from disappointment to poetry can still cast a spell. "Poor Beast" calls
out a bittersweet farewell to the past -- a lament to quiet for in loud times.
February 15, 2008
In Irish folklore, the hero Oshin dwells in the land of eternal youth. Slowly he comes to miss his friends and ventures to Earth once
more. But the moment he steps foot on the ground, time rushes up around him, and he's turned into an old man.
Billy Roche's "Poor Beast in the Rain," the absorbing inaugural production by the new Salem K Theatre Company, offers a modern
version of that myth. In mid-1980s Ireland, the regulars at a Wexford betting shop run by taciturn Steven (Michael O'Hagan) and his
daughter, Eileen (Kate Steele), gather to crank up for the Hurling Finals.
Turns out the real suspense isn't about the game but the reappearance of Danger Doyle (Andrew Connolly), the dashing bad boy
who ran off with Steven's young wife. Eileen pines for her ma, oblivious to the love-struck Georgie (Christopher Carley); Danger's
old mate, Joe (Kevin Kearns), can't wait to relive his wild youth, while a torn-up Molly (Joanne Whalley) torches for Danger.
This prodigal has been made into a legend by people who don't know how to move on, and his return sets their mythmaking to the
test. But if Danger back in town doesn't quite set off the fireworks the play promises, that's half the point. Director Wilson Milam's
intimate production compels less through plot than with lived-in verité. We feel like eavesdroppers at a corner table in set
designer Laura Fine Hawkes' grungy shop, all chalk dust and sticky counters, and the fine ensemble work on view will strengthen
as the run continues. Carley brims with clammy youth, while Whalley and Connolly spark and burn.
Roche has an easy way with local talk: Joe says of the slim Eileen: "there's more meat on a butcher's apron"; Molly dismisses a
young flirt as "the latest little tearaway." That old Irish turn from disappointment to poetry can still cast a spell. "Poor Beast" calls
out a bittersweet farewell to the past -- a lament to quiet for in loud times.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK - CHARLES MCNULTY
February 24, 2008
L.A. stages' 2008 openers set the bar high for the months to come. The new year has been
gloriously keeping its promise: In the first two months of 2008, we've been treated to full-bodied
storytelling.
Operating in a more lyrical register, Billy Roche's "Poor Beast in the Rain," the inaugural offering of
the Salem K Theatre Company, has the ring of a Gallic Tennessee Williams. Try as you may to
remain detached from the dramatized fray, the emotional tug lures you in.
Set in a betting shop in a small Irish town, the play revolves around the weekend of an all-Irish
football final, a time of great pride, drunken celebration and treacherous remembrance. Sporting
events mark time, and this one has drawn back the forbiddingly named Danger Doyle (Andrew
Connolly), the scandal-ridden seducer who years ago absconded with the wife of the betting shop
owner. Life in uneventful Wexford hasn't been the same since.
Steven (Michael O'Hagan), the lonely, retiring proprietor, would prefer to live out his day unmolested
by any more change. His daughter, Eileen (Kate Steele), has become (out of necessity) the public
face of this operation. This competent young woman is sought after by Georgie (Christopher Carley),
a likable doofus with a singing voice that's renowned throughout the town, but she doesn't seem
quite ready to settle for local obscurity.
Danger discreetly informs Eileen that her mother is not holding up well and is dying to see her.
Would she go with him back to London to comfort her? This stealthy conundrum proceeds under the
watchful eye of Molly (the sensational Joanne Whalley, pouncing with the deliberation of a cat on her
eighth life). A char in the betting parlor, she possesses an acid-spewing tongue and a smoldering
passion for Danger that won't burn out. Not a nuance gets past her, and as the various conflicts
among these characters are brought to a head, she makes sure that no one escapes a confrontation
with the stark truth.
The play, part of Roche's critically praised "Wexford Trilogy," was first performed in London in 1989
but is only now receiving its Los Angeles premiere at the Matrix Theatre. If it took this long to get an
American staging this good, the wait was worth it. Directed by Wilson Milam, who did such a
memorable job with Martin McDonagh's "The Lieutenant of Inishmore" on Broadway in 2006, and
featuring top-notch ensemble work, the production delivers what only the theater can -- an
embodiment of poetry.
Yes, "Poor Beast" has an underlying dilemma that borders on the quaint. But it's also beautifully
observed and tenderly affecting. This is usually a rare feat, but the remarkable development of the
last couple of months is the bountiful number of such occasions.
CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK - CHARLES MCNULTY
February 24, 2008
L.A. stages' 2008 openers set the bar high for the months to come. The new year has been
gloriously keeping its promise: In the first two months of 2008, we've been treated to full-bodied
storytelling.
Operating in a more lyrical register, Billy Roche's "Poor Beast in the Rain," the inaugural offering of
the Salem K Theatre Company, has the ring of a Gallic Tennessee Williams. Try as you may to
remain detached from the dramatized fray, the emotional tug lures you in.
Set in a betting shop in a small Irish town, the play revolves around the weekend of an all-Irish
football final, a time of great pride, drunken celebration and treacherous remembrance. Sporting
events mark time, and this one has drawn back the forbiddingly named Danger Doyle (Andrew
Connolly), the scandal-ridden seducer who years ago absconded with the wife of the betting shop
owner. Life in uneventful Wexford hasn't been the same since.
Steven (Michael O'Hagan), the lonely, retiring proprietor, would prefer to live out his day unmolested
by any more change. His daughter, Eileen (Kate Steele), has become (out of necessity) the public
face of this operation. This competent young woman is sought after by Georgie (Christopher Carley),
a likable doofus with a singing voice that's renowned throughout the town, but she doesn't seem
quite ready to settle for local obscurity.
Danger discreetly informs Eileen that her mother is not holding up well and is dying to see her.
Would she go with him back to London to comfort her? This stealthy conundrum proceeds under the
watchful eye of Molly (the sensational Joanne Whalley, pouncing with the deliberation of a cat on her
eighth life). A char in the betting parlor, she possesses an acid-spewing tongue and a smoldering
passion for Danger that won't burn out. Not a nuance gets past her, and as the various conflicts
among these characters are brought to a head, she makes sure that no one escapes a confrontation
with the stark truth.
The play, part of Roche's critically praised "Wexford Trilogy," was first performed in London in 1989
but is only now receiving its Los Angeles premiere at the Matrix Theatre. If it took this long to get an
American staging this good, the wait was worth it. Directed by Wilson Milam, who did such a
memorable job with Martin McDonagh's "The Lieutenant of Inishmore" on Broadway in 2006, and
featuring top-notch ensemble work, the production delivers what only the theater can -- an
embodiment of poetry.
Yes, "Poor Beast" has an underlying dilemma that borders on the quaint. But it's also beautifully
observed and tenderly affecting. This is usually a rare feat, but the remarkable development of the
last couple of months is the bountiful number of such occasions.
| POOR BEAST IN THE RAIN |
BACKSTAGE
February 20, 2008
In Billy Roche's play, the second in his Wexford Trilogy, the town of Wexford, Ireland, is buzzing on the Friday evening prior to the
All-Ireland Hurling Finals. (Hurling is like hockey on acid, an ancient Celtic game played only in Ireland.) In the local betting shop all
the excitement is dedicated to the Wexford team and Saturday's game, to which almost everyone with a pound in his pocket and a
big thirst is heading.
The voluble Joe (a charmingly loquacious Kevin Kearns), bubbling over with past triumphs, is joyfully educating Georgie (an
earnest, carrot-topped Christopher Carley) with tales of his scurrilous past, spent mostly in the company of Wexford's celebrated
bad boy, Danger Doyle, who, it's rumored, is back in town after a 10-year forced leave of absence in England. Pity poor Eileen
(lovely, sweet-faced Kate Steele), who runs the betting shop for her dad, Steven (a sadly fine Michael O'Hagan), whose wife,
Eileen's mother, ran away with Doyle 10 years ago. And heaven help Molly (Joanne Whalley in a richly sour performance), when
she finds out Doyle is back, and she's not got him -- again. Before the game, a reformed Doyle (an authoritative Andrew Connolly)
comes to take Eileen to her mother in London, breaking the hearts of Steven and the Eileen-bewitched Georgie, and exploding a
few long-held myths. Of course, by this time, everyone is happily or miserably drunk -- after all, this is an Irish play -- so the
resolution won't become clear until after the hangover is celebrated.
Director Wilson Milam, obviously in his element with this material, has gathered a superb national and international cast; all the
actors are excellent and very well-tuned in the Gaelic rhythms of the dialect, so much so that to a "foreigner" who may gather what
they're up to, it's not always crystal-clear what they're saying about it. (Fortunately, the woman sitting behind me gave her husband
a complete recap during intermission.)
Laurie Fine Hawkes is pitch-perfect in her set design of a rundown betting parlor, well-lighted by J. Kent Inasy. Designs also
include May Routh's well-coordinated costumes and Eric Snodgrass' sound.
February 20, 2008
In Billy Roche's play, the second in his Wexford Trilogy, the town of Wexford, Ireland, is buzzing on the Friday evening prior to the
All-Ireland Hurling Finals. (Hurling is like hockey on acid, an ancient Celtic game played only in Ireland.) In the local betting shop all
the excitement is dedicated to the Wexford team and Saturday's game, to which almost everyone with a pound in his pocket and a
big thirst is heading.
The voluble Joe (a charmingly loquacious Kevin Kearns), bubbling over with past triumphs, is joyfully educating Georgie (an
earnest, carrot-topped Christopher Carley) with tales of his scurrilous past, spent mostly in the company of Wexford's celebrated
bad boy, Danger Doyle, who, it's rumored, is back in town after a 10-year forced leave of absence in England. Pity poor Eileen
(lovely, sweet-faced Kate Steele), who runs the betting shop for her dad, Steven (a sadly fine Michael O'Hagan), whose wife,
Eileen's mother, ran away with Doyle 10 years ago. And heaven help Molly (Joanne Whalley in a richly sour performance), when
she finds out Doyle is back, and she's not got him -- again. Before the game, a reformed Doyle (an authoritative Andrew Connolly)
comes to take Eileen to her mother in London, breaking the hearts of Steven and the Eileen-bewitched Georgie, and exploding a
few long-held myths. Of course, by this time, everyone is happily or miserably drunk -- after all, this is an Irish play -- so the
resolution won't become clear until after the hangover is celebrated.
Director Wilson Milam, obviously in his element with this material, has gathered a superb national and international cast; all the
actors are excellent and very well-tuned in the Gaelic rhythms of the dialect, so much so that to a "foreigner" who may gather what
they're up to, it's not always crystal-clear what they're saying about it. (Fortunately, the woman sitting behind me gave her husband
a complete recap during intermission.)
Laurie Fine Hawkes is pitch-perfect in her set design of a rundown betting parlor, well-lighted by J. Kent Inasy. Designs also
include May Routh's well-coordinated costumes and Eric Snodgrass' sound.