John Patrick Shanley’s Outsde Mullingar is a sweet, Irish tone poem about a young middle-aged man
and woman (Debra Messing and Brian
F. O’Byrne) in a small community who seem
destined to be with each other yet are unable to see a clear path to each
other, in part because of their bickerish aging, widowed parents (Dearblhla
Molloy and Peter Maloney), both of whom would seem to be dying this year…and
in part due to their own innate shyness and sense of small-town propriety.
Because
it backs meanderingly into its central story without an immediately
ascertainable sense of direction, the play took a long time to warm up for me,
and it wasn’t really until the second act that I found myself emotionally
engaged, despite lovely performances and typically clean direction by Doug
Hughes. Other members of the audience
didn’t seem quite so slow to get on board as I, and perhaps that’s because
sometimes it’s best to just give over to the moment rather than parse it, which
seems to be the message of this gentle little play as well. Then again, the
point of abandon must therefore be personal and unpredictable because you can’t
give yourself over to what you aren’t feeling. So it’s anybody’s
guess as to whether this one goes on your “must see” list; though I’d suggest
that if you have an affection for the Shanley catalog, there’s no reason not to
roll the dice.
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