THE HANGOVER REPORT – Owen McCafferty’s timely new play AGREEMENT dramatizes the events leading up to the Good Friday Agreement

The company of the Lyric Belfast production of “Agreement” by Owen McCafferty at Irish Arts Center (photo courtesy of the production).

This spring, Irish Arts Center remembers the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 by hosting the import of Owen McCafferty’s Agreement. Originally staged at Lyric Theatre Belfast, the acclaimed play commemorates the 25th anniversary of the negotiations, depicting the tenuous days leading up to the signing of the landmark document, thereby paving the way for hard won peace in Northern Ireland.

Of course the playwright wasn’t in “the room where it happened” (to quote that mega hit musical Hamilton), which is where theatrical imagination comes in handy. Dramatically, McCafferty’s play calls to mind the popular drama Twelve Angry Men, particularly with respect to the mustering of tension and uncertainty enroute to a known endgame. The playwright also does a good job of conjuring exaggerated, larger-than-life characters out of the key political players of Northern Ireland (e.g., Northern Ireland’s Secretary of State Mo Mowlam, Unionist David Trimble), the British government (e.g., UK Prime Minister Tony Blair), and the Irish government (e.g., former Prime Minister of Ireland Bertie Ahern, Nationalist John Hume). The proceedings are moderated by Senator George Mitchell, who seems only occasionally involved in the gritty negotiations. Ultimately, Agreement does an admirable job of distilling and dramatizing opposing arguments and points of view, resulting in an educational and intermittently entertaining theatrical experience.

Director Charlotte Westenra skillfully navigates crowd-pleasing satire and high drama in her claustrophobic yet dynamic staging. Throughout, the acting from the ensemble cast — most of whom are reprising their performances from across the pond — go for broad, blunt strokes instead of nuanced characterizations (Martin Hutson’s caricature-like Prime Minister Blair consistently drew audible chuckles from the audience). Low hanging entertainment value aside, Agreement‘s most lasting and timely accomplishment is how it reminds us that fruitful political negotiations can be more than just merely pipe dreams.

RECOMMENDED

AGREEMENT
Off-Broadway, Play
Irish Arts Center
1 hour, 40 minutes (without an intermission)
Through May 12

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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