Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Enda Walsh’s THE SAME at the Irish Arts Center is as mysterious as it is haunting

• By drediman
• February 25, 2022
• No Comments

Last night at the new Irish Arts Center in Hell’s Kitchen, I attended a performance of The Same, Enda Walsh’s new two-hander which comes to New York courtesy of Ireland’s Corcadorca Theater Company. In essence, the play – which is as mysterious as it is haunting – tells the story of Lisa, a mentally unstable woman who meets her future self. As their surreal relationship develops, Lisa’s two selves start to converge as they reminisce about their life in tag-teaming fashion.

Mr. Walsh is no stranger to such adventurous and experimental theater-making. In fact, he’s turned such metaphysical high jinks into an art form (as evidenced as recently as this fall in his play Medicine at St. Ann’s Warehouse). In the play’s dense, distilled 50-minute runtime, the playwright explores concepts such as predestination, reality, and identity. Throughout, perspectives constantly shift, and the play’s happenings are rendered in fractured and blurred language. Additionally, the playwright doesn’t make it easy to decipher what is real versus what is what is being fabricated in the character’s mind. As such, the play requires the utmost attention and often feels one step in front of the audience. For intrepid theatergoers, this will be part of its allure; they’ll have fun piecing the work together.

The Corcadorca Theater production has been directed by Pat Kierna with a steady, deliberate hand. There’s a simmering, menacing quality to the staging – which features an impeccable sound design that’s often unnerving – which heightens play’s fever dream quality. The production’s two stars, Catherine Walsh and Eileen Walsh (who are sisters in real life), give symbiotic performances that vividly capture the character’s fragile, jittery psyche.

RECOMMENDED

THE SAME
Off-Broadway, Play
Irish Arts Center
50 minutes (without an intermission)
Through March 6