“Brendan”
A play written by Ronan Noone
Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St, Boston
October 12–November 17 | $15-$50 | 617.266.0800
This little play feints and jabs for the first few rounds but about halfway through an uninterrupted ninety minutes it begins to land tender blows to the viewer’s heart. Any play that features the doppelganger of the main character’s recently deceased mother on stage with him for the full length of the play had better have some powerful hooks to go the distance.
“Brendan”, Ronan Noone’s new play that began a run at the Calderwood Pavilion’s Wimberly Theater Friday night, is a sweet, imaginatively drawn coming-of-age story.
Dashiell Eaves plays Brendan, a self-doubting, terminally shy 25 year-old Irish immigrant who fled Ireland and his mother five years ago. He learns the date of his citizenship hearing the same day a letter informs him that his mother has died. After a shaky start, the pas de deux in which Brendan works out his karma with his salt o’ the earth, compulsively intrusive mother is a quiet wonder to behold.
Parallel to this narrative is Brendan’s tentative entry into Boston-ish American mainstream culture, conveniently populated by fellow Irish immigrants and a female neighbor as much in need of emotional salvation as our Brendan.
Watching scenes in which Brendan and his unmarried downstairs neighbor can’t connect verbally even though they feel strong emotional tugs might resonate with playgoers who’ve experienced similar timid moments. We want to shout “Yes!” when his mother, sitting in a chair in the corner, says, “Ask her if she’d like stay and have a cup of tea!”
The supporting cast, all of whom have dual roles, play their broadly drawn characters with gusto. Ciaran Crawford as Steve O, Natalie Gold as Rose, Tommy Schrider as the brother of the female neighbor in the apartment downstairs, and Kelly McAndrew as the classic heart o’ gold hooker all make the most of their turns on the stage.
The play’s anchor is Nancy E. Carroll in the role of Brendan’s long-suffering mother. Invisible to all but Brendan, she’s as powerful a force beyond the pale as she was in her lifetime. She plays her role with wallops of dry humor and an Irish accent as thick and natural as the peat beneath the sod of the Emerald Isle.
Her wish to see her son succeed was coupled with enough smothering motherly advice to send him packing to America. Even from the first row of the mezzanine, you can see her eyebrows rise in disdain for some of her son’s new world choices in buddies, girl friends, and clothing.
Alexander Dodge’s sets, pulled onto and off stage on tracks or rollers by the cast, are imaginatively designed. The Irish bar opened and closed from one side of the stage, Brendan’s one room apartment on the other, and the car Brendan learns to drive, make exquisite use of the technology of the Wimberly Theater stage.
Suffice it to say, we’ve all had ‘issues’ with our parents. Ditto for trying to find our niche in society and figuring out how to initiate a relationship, Somewhere between the lines of this play may lurk Noone’s own transition from Irish immigrant to American. Is it coincidence that Ronan Noone cast Brendan as a house painter, a job he held before finding his métier as a writer? Or that one of the pivotal moments is a scene Noone actually witnessed outside his Boston apartment?
In one entertaining riff directed straight at the audience, Brendan lists all the Irish-isms he’s dropped for American slang (“Brilliant!” not “Cool!”). The play is billed as a comedy but anyone familiar with Irish humor understands that a good laugh is often wrapped around disappointment and loss.
With its affecting light touch, “Brendan” helps us reflect on the need to find our voices so we can connect with the people who are important to us and grow into the human beings we (with or without the encouragement of our mothers) yearn to become.
I couldn't find your email address but I found your blog which is almost as good. I'm in The Crucible in Salem Nov 9-25th -- I'd love to see you there! Details at www.salemtheatre.com
Erin :)
(Note: I was Erin's fourth grade teacher!)
Posted by: Erin Boyle | October 23, 2007 at 01:23 PM