The Seafarer at The Jungle Theater on 11/13/09
By: Janet Preus
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The story sets up a fundamental dilemma: who, in the end, is redeemable and who isn’t? To set forth this heavy premise, McPherson chooses low-life, drunken, well past-their-prime men who have precious little about them that is remotely appealing, much less admirable. Ripe pickings for the devil, should he happen to show up, right?
It is the morning of Christmas Eve. The wind howls outside, a small wood burner heats the dirty hole of a flat, cluttered with empty bottles and unattended miscellany. Sharkey (Stephen Yoakam) has returned to Dublin to take care of his older brother, Richard (Allen Hamilton) who was recently blinded in a dumpster-diving mishap. Although Sharkey is sullen and the brothers’ interactions are peppered with abusive insults, Sharkey dutifully attends to Richard’s most basic needs, accommodating his non-stop drinking and acquiescing to his whims. Sharkey has managed to stay sober for all of two days, apparently to prove something to a lost love; Richard thinks Sharkey’s stab at sobriety is just making him more foul-tempered, but Richard rails against most anything, including the “filthy winos” populating the alley behind his basement flat.
Also inhabiting this peculiarly funny circumstance is drinking pal, Ivan (Patrick Bailey), who never quite made it home after the previous night’s bender and can’t seem to locate his eyeglasses. Although he leaves in the morning, we’re not surprised to see him show up again later in the day with another pal, Nicky (Mark Rhein), who has dragged along a well-dressed chap named Mr. Lockhart (Phil Kilbourne) that he picked up in a bar, and who we quickly learn shares some history with Sharkey. All are looking forward to a night of “Christmas cheer” and some poker.
I wouldn’t think of giving even the smallest delight in this charming debauchery away. The twists of the plot, masterfully set up, are later handed over to the audience like cards pulled out of the magician’s sleeve. It’s just something you don’t spoil.
Although director, Joel Sass, molded a beautifully functioning ensemble, and individual performances were uniformly exemplary, Yoakam must be singled out. In Yoakam’s skin, we can’t help but be moved by Sharkey’s loyalty to his brother, especially in light of his own personal anguish over a wasted life. In fact, as the details of Sharkey’s past are revealed we readily forgive him anything. Such is the wonder of McPherson’s characterizations, and Yoakam’s brilliant portrayal. I never thought of him as an actor playing a part – not for a moment.
Bailey’s rendering of the light-hearted sot, Ivan, provided a dandy counterpoint to Richard’s troll-like bellowing and Nicky’s hyperactivity, which Rhein made a little too big for the intimacy of the story. There’s a fine line for a character like the weasily and yappy Nicky. Rhein, I think, needed reining in to properly fit the ‘space.’
The darkly smooth character that Kilbourne fashioned slides with ease from a friendly game of cards to profound revelations about his own tortured existence. Even Mr. Lockhart is capable of setting up a tiny sympathetic vibration, but it widens with each heavy step of his measured exit and flat-lines in the silence that follows. By that time we know that the line that will crash the stillness is going to be perfect. It’s that kind of an evening.
“The Seafarer” runs through December 20.
Location Info:
The Jungle Theater
Artist Info: The Jungle Theater
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