Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Off-Broadway Roundup: Jaki McCarrick’s BELFAST GIRLS, Michael McKeever’s MR. PARKER, and Kees Roorda’s A KID LIKE RISHI

• By drediman
• June 27, 2022
• No Comments

Over the past week or so, I caught a few Off-Broadway plays before they concluded their respective limited runs. Here are my thoughts on them.

BELFAST GIRLS
Irish Repertory Theatre
Closed

Last week, I caught up with Irish Repertory Theatre’s mounting of Belfast Girls (RECOMMENDED) (the production closed this past weekend), which tells the story of five tough-as-nails Irish women who trek from Ireland to Australia with the hopes of starting their lives anew (some 4,000 women actually took this journey between 1848 and 1851). Truth be told, Belfast Girls is a tough sit. The claustrophobic play is grim from beginning to end and is chock full of instances of horrifying cruelty and abuse. Despite the relentlessness of the play, there are moments of hope and beauty that pierce through like intense beacons of light, and they’re all the more precious and moving for their rare appearances. The play isn’t perfect – some of the pacing in the exposition-heavy first act could use some tightening, and the second act’s melodramatic machinations are a bit extreme. That being said, the acting throughout is rich and forceful, as is Nicola Murphy’s staging.

MR. PARKER
Penguin Rep Theatre at Theatre Row
Closed

Before ending its run at Theatre Row, I also had the chance to take in Michael McKeever’s new play Mr. Parker (RECOMMENDED) courtesy of Penguin Rep Theatre. The work tells the story of a middle aged gay man coping with the death of his husband. When he strikes up a relationship with a much younger man, his world is turned upside down, complicating his grieving process. Mr. McKeever’s play is solidly written – it’s a fine example of good old fashioned playwriting and an insightful if slightly predictable glimpse at emotional and psychological mending. The play’s arc is clearly delineated in a series of well-crafted scenes, which is refreshing given the tendency of many new works these days to ramble. The characters are well-developed, and they’re brought to vivid life by the play’s three actors (Derek Smith, Davi Santos, and Mia Matthews). Joe Brancato’s handsome production is tightly directed, and it fits cozily into Theatre Row’s street-level Theatre 1.

A KID LIKE RISHI
Origin Theatre at The Cell Theatre
Closed

This past week also saw the closure of Origin Theatre’s staging of A Kid Like Rishi (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) by Kees Roorda at The Cell Theatre in Chelsea. Set in the Netherlands, the work is a piece of documentary theater – the production is assembled from courtroom, interview, and other transcripts – chronicling a racial profiling incident which resulted in the police shooting of a young man of Surinamese descent (the titular Rishi). Using a “Rashomon”-like layout, the play is prismatic in quality, which allows audiences to closely assess the incident from 360 degrees. Directed by Erwin Maas and featuring an English translation by Tom Johnston, the show is notable for its unadorned, matter-of-fact tone that eschews any semblance of dramatic histrionics. The acting by the trio of Sung Yun Cho, Atandwa Kani, and Kaili Vernoff is clear, precise, and carefully calibrated to Mr. Maas’s immersive multimedia staging (Mr. Atandwa’s delivery of the play’s final interview with Rishi’s mom is particularly devastating).