Philadelphia Weekly

Irish playwrights seem to have a knack for telling a good story. Adding to a rich heritage that includes John Millington Synge, George Bernard Shaw and Brian Friel, Conor McPherson’s intelligent drama The Seafarer is currently receiving a sterling production from the Arden Theatre Company.


The play is titled after an ancient poem about misery, loneliness, the afterlife and the fleeting nature of human existence. It’s a lot of ground for a two-hour play to cover, but McPherson does it effortlessly. In fact, Seafarer is first and foremost a terrific story about a card game with wickedly high stakes.


The story takes place on Christmas Eve in the home of Richard (Brian Russell) and his brother Sharky 
(William Zielinski). Richard is blind (the result of a run-in with a dumpster the previous Halloween); Sharky may as well be. He bumps along through life as the black sheep of the family—a wanderer who finds only trouble.


The pair is joined by their friend Ivan (Anthony Lawton), Sharky’s local nemesis Nicky (Joe Hickey) and the mysteriously sinister Mr. Lockart (Greg Wood), an impeccable dresser who’s strangely out of place among this motley crew of small-town Irishmen. Like Richard and Sharky, Ivan and Nicky are blind to life’s potholes, a condition worsened by their propensity for consuming dramatically large quantities of alcohol (and, in Ivan’s case, aggravated by the fact that he’s lost his glasses).


As he did in his impeccable production of Master Harold ... and the Boys , director David O’Connor again displays his unique ability to build a sense of community between his actors and the audience. Even on the Arden’s large Haas Stage, Seafarer is an intimate affair, and O’Connor makes us feel as if we’re sitting alongside the characters in the family home. Credit for this familiarity also goes to the cast, which (wandering accents aside) is a showcase of ensemble acting. Hickey (as the antsy but good-hearted Nicky) and Lawton (who gives a touching and slyly humorous performance as the permanently disheveled Ivan) are particularly fine.


In many ways, the Arden’s production tops the justly acclaimed Broadway staging. O’Connor may be guilty of sentimentalizing the ending, but unlike the hard-bitten Broadway production, this version uncovers the humanity in McPherson’s devilish tale. In doing so, it reminds us that life is both precious and fleeting. ■

The Seafarer Through June 14. $33-$48. Arden Theatre Company, 40 N. Second St. 215.922.1122. ardentheatre.org


There is nothing better than going to a show with no expectations and discovering something astounding. Such is the case with Quixote, a co-production from New York City’s Stillpoint Productions and Philly’s Broad Street Ministry.


Quixote is staged deep in the bowels of the Center City building, where the supremely talented director Lear deBessonet reimagines Miguel de Cervante’s legendary tale as a story of community purpose and possibilities. 


Featuring a sharp and accessible text from Lucy Thurber, the title character Quixote (superbly played by David Brooks) inhabits the role of an errant knight. Chivalrous and determined, he seeks to right wrongs and bring justice to a world beset with suffering. 


The makeshift performance space is small, but the production is huge. A professional ensemble of five is supported by approximately 30 community members. There’s also a delightful blue horse (vividly brought to life by puppeteer Robert Smythe on a bicycle) and the anarchist gypsy-punk band the Psalters, whose tribal rhythms give the show its musical heartbeat. DeBessonet makes imaginative use of the space, especially in the battle scenes, which roar with surprising fury thanks in large part to the Psalters’ raucous musical accompaniment and Tracey Bersley’s primal choreography.


Visually impressive (Justin Townsend’s lighting is stunning) and with strong local flavor (one character announces she’s from Philly), deBussonet’s site-specific production draws its energy from its surroundings and the community members who form the bulk of the cast. It’s community theater in the truest sense, showing social justice as a group pursuit. (J.C.R.) 


Quixote Through June 7. $15. Broad Street Ministry, 311 S. Broad St. 1.800.838.3006. broadstreetministry.org