Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Director Garry Hynes’ DRUIDO’CASEY brings searing authenticity and muscular poetry to Sean O’Casey’s Dublin Trilogy

• By drediman
• October 12, 2023
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Over the past decade or so, director Garry Hynes — the first woman in 1998 to win the Tony Award for Direction for her staging of Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane (an award she coincidentally won the same year as Julie Taymor’s win for helming the smash stage musical adaptation of The Lion King) — and her Irish theater company Druid have toured a number of illuminating play cycles to international acclaim: DruidSynge (2005), DruidMurphy (2012) and DruidShakespeare (2015). Now, we have DruidO’Casey, Hyne’s take on playwright Sean O’Casey’s Dublin Trilogy, which is comprised of three distinct plays — The Plough and the Stars, The Shadow of a Gunman, and Juno and the Paycock.

Set in Dublin and presented in chronological order of the events of the cycle, DruidO’Casey commences with The Plough and the Stars, which depicts Jack and Nora Clitheroe as they navigate young married life in a city on the verge of the 1916 Easter Rising rebellion. Set a few years later, The Shadow of a Gunman finds the characters of Donal Davoren, Seumas Shields, and Minnie Powell thrown — inadvertently and tragically — into the unforgiving cogs of the Irish War of Independence. The marathon concludes with Juno and the Paycock, of the three the most domestic and least overtly political installment (and also arguably the most famous play of the cycle). In the work, the survival of the tempestuous Boyle family is put into question when their fortunes are dashed and the Irish Civil War rages on.

Seeing the overarching production in a single day “marathon” viewing can certainly feel as if one is embarking — to reference Eugene O’Neill’s enduring play — on a long day’s journey into night, albeit thankfully with ample breaks spread throughout (note that DruidO’Casey can also be taken in over the course of several days). Although it requires commitment, the rewards are great if Hyne’s cycle is experienced as such. Indeed, there’s a unity of vision — marked by searing authenticity and muscular poetry — that reveals itself more clearly when the segments are seen back-to-back in one day. It’s also a unique opportunity to assess the playwright’s larger body of work (if only a subset of their total output) and appreciate the immense undertaking of the overall endeavor in terms of interpretation, performance, and design.

Over the cycle’s six hours, the performances — delivered by an ensemble of 18 actors playing upwards of 45 roles — are nothing short of exceptional. Collectively, they incisively capture the unique character and spirit of the Irish people — the unalloyed joy, the brash humor (both O’Casey and Hynes manages to find immense humor and everyday goodwill in the face of unspeakable bleakness), the raging anger, the fierce resilience — particularly as it relates to the working class. Be forewarned, the company thickly slathers the Irish accent onto each of the three plays. But fear not, the ears eventually adapt to the rhythms and slang. However, have no doubt — the humanity of the characters shines through brightly and clearly irregardless of one’s comfort level with the language.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

DRUIDO’CASEY: SEAN O’CASEY
Off-Broadway, Play
Druid at NYU Skirball (co-presented by The Public Theater)
Collectively 6 Horus (including intermissions and breaks)
Through October 14