NEW YORK—Perhaps only the Irish can portray such a vivid mix of zaniness and dark humor as is evidenced in Enda Walsh's The Walworth Farce.
Winner of the Fringe First Award in Edinburgh as presented by the Druid Theatre Company of Galway (responsible for The Beauty Queen of Leenane, among other successes), this Farce engages in the bizarre doings of a father and his two sons, as they daily, ritualistically act out long-ago events of their family life.
The set, a three-room London flat, though squalid, is not threatening, although the presence of a couple of makeshift cardboard coffins does seem odd. The hijinks, by dad Dinny (Dennis Conway), and sons Sean (Taedhg Murphy) and Blake (Garrett Lombard) begin innocently enough, as Dinny preens and does exercises in the living room, while Blake, in the bedroom, is ironing a skirt, which he then dons. Sean, in kitchen, unpacks groceries.
Then they spring into frenzied activity, rushing about the house, changing wigs to impersonate various family and friends. Their wild pace and actions merge The Three Stooges with The Marx Brothers, and these guys win. The seemingly disjointed dialogue and the quick changes of wigs and costume, particularly on the part of Blake, who impersonates various women in their story, is not always clear—unless, perhaps, one is Irish and as amazingly quick-witted as are these characters—but that doesn't necessarily matter.
One senses a desperation and apparent need to play out past events, for no one but themselves, to perhaps eventually achieve a kind of catharsis. But arrogant Dinny throws us off that track by occasionally pointing to the trophy, given to the performer of the day who does the best acting job, and reminding the others that he, Dinny, has always won the award.
Breaking into the routine dysfunction is Hayley (Mercy Ojelade), a young black grocery store clerk who has unexpectedly come by with the correct grocery bag, which had inadvertently been exchanged during Sean's morning shopping. She brings the much needed roast chicken and cheese spread, for which the family is grateful.
Hayley seems attracted to the shy Sean and would like to leave with him, but Dinny, now turned violent, prevents her departure. To his mind, this intruder must never be allowed to disclose to anyone in the outside world what she has seen here, and while she's here she might as well don a wig or two and help out in the performance.
Hayley's obvious terror, Sean's efforts to aid her, and the others' hostility, throw the proceedings into a never-before experienced chaos, the conclusion of which I will not expose. We all must have our secrets, yes?
Making all this entertaining and almost plausible are the marvelous performances. It's perhaps unfair to single out a particular effort, but Denis Conway's Dinny is one of the most extraordinary performances I have had the pleasure (if that is the right word) of seeing on any stage in a very long time.
It goes without saying that Mikel Murfi's remarkably alert direction makes it all meld together. This production, which has been brought over from Ireland, will move to London's National Theatre in September.
The Walworth Farce
St. Ann's Warehouse
38 Water Street
DUMBO, Brooklyn
Tickets: (718) 254-8779, or
Theatermania (866) 811-4111
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