THE HANGOVER REPORT – Irish Rep’s carefully calibrated staging of Brian Friel’s ARISTOCRATS illuminates the Chekhov-inspired play

Roger Dominic Casey and Tom Holcomb in Irish Rep’s production of “Aristocrats” by Brian Friel (photo by Jeremy Daniel).

Last night, I ventured down to Chelsea to catch Irish Repertory Theatre’s Off-Broadway revival of Brian Friel’s 1979 play Aristocrats. The production marks the second installment of The Friel Project, Irish Rep’s curated season dedicated to the works of the late Brian Friel, inarguably one of Ireland’s very finest playwrights (the season began with an exceptional hit revival of one of Friel’s masterpieces Translations). Set in the fictitious town of Ballybeg – the same setting as most of the playwright’s works – Aristocrats tells the story of a once prominent Irish family on its last legs as a societal bastion of the community.

Although many of Friel’s works are influenced by the plays of Anton Chekhov, Aristocrats perhaps has the most obvious Chekhovian overtones of the lot, starting with a premise and characters that hinge on painful evolution. Director Charlotte Moore (Irish Rep’s artistic director) had previously staged the piece for the company in 2009, and it’s clear that she understands how to directly tap into the play’s slow-burning pulse without disrupting the delicate sense of intimacy that Friel has created. Indeed, her carefully calibrated staging allows the piece to breathe, organically hitting its thematic marks – e.g., as it relates familial duty, legacy, national identity, class relations, the utility of delusion, etc. – while illuminating it with elegant stage pictures.

At the center of the play are four adult siblings – brought together for perhaps the last time by a wedding and, inadvertently, a death in the family – each of whom have their own dysfunctional relationship with their aristocratic heritage. In Irish Rep’s current revival, they’re animated by sensitive, vivid performances by an ensemble cast who have a strong grasp on their respective characters, as well as Chekhovian cadence. A particular standout is Tom Holcomb as the sole son, who gives a quirky, quietly heartbreaking performance that suggests a man fast sinking into a delusional existence.

RECOMMENDED

ARISTOCRATS
Off-Broadway, Play
Irish Repertory Theatre
2 hours, 10 minutes (with one intermission)
Through March 3

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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