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Theatre & Box Office |
Reprinted with permission of The Times of Northwest Indiana. THEATER SCENE with Kevin Murphy Set on a remote island off the western coast of Ireland in 1934, the story centers on a young man, Cripple Billy (Karl Berner), whose life history -- and unpromising probable future -- are laid out for the audience by his two aunts, Eileen (Deb Weiss) and Kate (Sherie Nash), before Billy puts in his first appearance. Given his crippled condition, and the limitations of 1930's Arran Island culture, it appears that Billy's chances at any sort of life are sorely limited. Then, suddenly, the outside world, in the form of Hollywood, invades the western islands, and Billy takes a wild flyer at stardom -- with mixed results. What did isolated people do in the first half of the 20th century when a radio was still a rare luxury, motion pictures were just becoming available in small venues, with primitive equipment, and newspapers were slow in circulation? In this case, one of them, "Johnnypateenmike" (Tim Gleason), elects himself the prototype of future talk show hosts, wandering the island with a few bits of news each day, while extracting payment in a form of barter-for-information. Nor -- like his electronic descendants -- is he averse to "massaging" the facts a bit to enhance his ratings. Karl Berner's physical challenges in portraying the crippled Billy are extensive. He delivers well, both in characterization and in movement, which is difficult, given Billy's afflictions and the user-hostile physical environment in which he must move. As hard-nosed, no-nonsense sisters who can look the world dead in the eye, stare it down and then completely fold from compassion before bringing it to its knees, Nash and Weiss are a delight. If tough talk alone ever won a battle, they'd be victorious, but soft hearts (they'd say "soft heads") do them in every time. It's always interesting when a familiar actor completely disappears within a role, which is what happened in this production with Marcia Gienapp, whose rich characterization of Mammy, supported by clever application of makeup and costume, made the actress invisible within the character. Gienapp's daughter (family participation being one of the rich side effects of community theater), Katie Abel, plays Helen, who must have been the inspiration for the Helen Reddy hit song, "I Am Woman," because everyone does hear her roar -- and tries mightily to avoid it. Abel makes Helen both intensely obnoxious and unexpectedly likeable, an interesting combination, to say the least -- like Genghis Khan with a touch of Mr. Rogers. Gleason makes eccentricity look sensible as Johnnypateenmike -- which is more than a little bit scary. Nor is his personal story as uncomplicated as he generally suggests. That soft hearts can go cold and hard in a flash is also evident, as Babbybobby (John M. Evans), unexpectedly demonstrates to Billy in a chilling flash of viciousness when his ego negates his heart. The final two characters, Doctor (Jeff Jones), and Bartley (Andy Urschel), provide counterbalancing forces of somewhat detached sanity and unaffected guilelessness, respectively, both of which qualities serve to enrich the story considerably. Playwright Martin McDonagh has created eccentric islanders whose linguistic gymnastics are a humorous study in mixed-message generation and interpretation. To strengthen the sense of their small universe, he has woven a running joke through the text that becomes increasingly funny, while perfectly underscoring the provincial isolation of the islanders. As a child, I was immersed in a linguistically musical environment, with the adults on my mother's side speaking in accents that reflected both the Limerick and western regions of Ireland, while my father's side of the family spoke with a strong Yorkshire accent. I was reminded of those resonances while listening to the cast, whose use of dialect made the performance feel right, although I don’t really know what 1930's-era western islanders sounded like. I understand that Gleason was the language coach for this production and, if so, he did a most effective job, for the linguistic consistency among the cast is impressive. Theatrically, you're not likely to experience this island culture very often, but CTG's presentation makes it a trip worth taking. "The Cripple of Inishmaan" runs through April 3, with performances at 8 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 2:30 p.m., Sunday, in the Chicago Street Theatre, 154 W. Chicago Street, Valparaiso. Tickets: $12 ($10 for seniors, $8 for students 21 and under). Reservations: (219) 464-1636. |