Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – IRISHTOWN parodies both Irish playwriting and the process of making theater, often to very funny effect

• By drediman
• May 12, 2025
• No Comments

This spring, Irish Repertory Theater has made the wise decision to lighten up the mood (because we all need levity during these strained, crazy times!) by presenting a rare comedy at its cozy Off-Broadway home base in Chelsea. That would be the world premiere of Ciara Elizabeth Smyth’s new farce Irishtown. Set in Dublin in a rehearsal room located in the offices of the fictitious Irishtown Players, Smyth’s play (succinctly subtitled “A Problem”) tells the story of the development and rehearsal of a new play, which is being groomed for a high profile production across the pond in New York. Suffice to say, personalities clash and things don’t go according to plan — namely because the play is deemed not “Irish” enough — ending up with the cast and creative team scrapping the play and instead attempting to devise a new play from the ground up.

In general, Irishtown is both a love letter to and a parody of the fragile and mysterious process of theater-making, much of it along the lines of what Smash is currently doing (sensationally, mind you) uptown on Broadway. But instead of poking fun at musical theater, Smyth’s new play skewers Irish playwriting — which is actually not that hard to do, if you think about it, given its easily recognizable idiosyncrasies (largely having to do with life’s inescapable blightness) — including the works of such national treasures as Samuel Beckett and Brian Friel (e.g., there’s even a hilarious nod to Irish Rep’s own production of Beckett Briefs from earlier in the season). To boot, Irish-American playwrights like Eugene O’Neill and John Patrick Shanley are also fair game, namely Shanley’s Tony-winning play Doubt and its ambiguous suggestions of sexual abuse. Although much of the play is very funny — especially for those well-versed in the works being parodied — little can be done to hide the two dimensionality of the archetypal characters, who seem like less etched-out versions of characters from Michael Frayn’s Noises Off.

Smyth’s play progressively moves from naturalism to a more surreal, sketch comedy-like mode, particularly in the latter half of the show when the company hits wall after wall on their multiple attempts at devising a play. For the most part, director Nicola Murphy Dubey handles this stylistic shift fairly well, although not completely seamlessly. But that’s neither here nor there, particularly when the ensemble work is as skilled and inspired as it is here. Irishtown stars the great Kate Burton (who left the show on May 11), Saoirse-Monica Jackson (of Derry Girls fame), Kevin Oliver Lynch, Deirdre Madigan, Brenda Meaney, and Angela Reed (with additional voiceover work by Roger Clark), who together regularly raise the piece to giddy comic heights.

RECOMMENDED

IRISHTOWN
Off-Broadway, Play
Irish Repertory Theatre
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through May 25