Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Hard-hitting Irish dramas that put you through the wringer: Enda Walsh’s MEDICINE and the stage adaptation of Eimear McBride’s A GIRL IS A HALF-FORMED THING

• By drediman
• December 10, 2021
• No Comments

If you’re in the mood for hard-hitting Irish dramas that put you through the wringer, you’re in luck. Currently in town are a pair of Off-Broadway plays that ideally fit the bill. Read on for my thoughts.

MEDICINE
St. Ann’s Warehouse
Through December 12

Now wrapping up performances at St. Ann’s Warehouse is Enda Walsh’s Medicine (RECOMMENDED). The production marks the return to St. Ann’s of Mr. Walsh, whose works over the years have been staples at the trendy Brooklyn performing arts venue. Medicine finds the playwright, even more so than usual, in an especially daring and experimental mode. Set in a mental institution, Mr. Walsh’s latest tells the story of a patient who undergoes “theater therapy” – a sort of variation on art therapy – to make sense of and come to terms with his traumatic past. On first exposure, the play’s aesthetic comes across as jarringly stylized, perhaps even to the point of incomprehension. However, upon closer inspection, the play’s outlandish absurdity starts to make sense if one thinks of the work as being expressed through the patient’s muddled and confused perspective. The play also provides pointed commentary on the failure of institutions – including theater itself – and their fundamental merits. Mr. Walsh is also credited for directing the production, which immediately grabs one’s attention with its parade of audacious moments. The cast of three (including film star Domhnall Gleeson as the patient) make sure that the work’s unfiltered intensity never flags.

A GIRL IS A HALF-FORMED THING
Irish Repertory Theatre
Through December 12

Down at Irish Repertory Theatre in Chelsea, you’ll be able to currently catch Annie Ryan’s one-woman stage adaptation of Eimear McBride’s novel A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing (RECOMMENDED), which also concludes performances this weekend. The work, which returns to New York after having briefly played the Baryshnikov Arts Center in 2016 (in a different production), tells the story of a young woman who, as a child, was sexually abused by her uncle. As an adult, she turns to promiscuous sex and self-sabotaging behavior to escape from the tough realities of life. As you can imagine, Ms. Ryan’s adaptation unrelentingly delves into rather dark and raw territory, all the while deploying fractured, staccato-like dialogue like shards of glass to illicit visceral responses from viewers. Suffice to say, the play – with its morally questionable heroine and graphic depictions of sex and violence – is not for everyone, especially those feint of heart. Starring in the Irish Rep’s appropriately grim production – atmospherically directed by Nicola Murphy – is Jenn Murray, whose performance is as piercing as it is skilled. Portraying a laundry list of diverse characters, Ms. Murray tackles the difficult and harrowing play head-on with both unnerving clarity and unrelenting ferocity.