<Poor Beast In the Rain, a CurtainUp review " CurtainUp
CurtainUp
The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features, Annotated Listings
HOME PAGE

SITE GUIDE

SEARCH


REVIEWS

REVIEW ARCHIVES

ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP

FEATURES

NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings


LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway

NYC Restaurants

BOOKS and CDs

OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Philadelphia
Elsewhere

QUOTES

TKTS

PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS

LETTERS TO EDITOR

FILM

LINKS

MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
Writing for Us


Globe Valves,China valve, valve Manufacturer, valve supplier, link check valves, ball valves, Butterfly Valves,valves Butterfly valves 2011.06.05, Gate valves, Ball Valves,Gate Valves,Check Valves Plug Valvesglobe valves, butterfly valves, Zhejiang sedelon valve co.,ltd.
valve factory,valve corporation,valve company China Valve manufacturer and Supplier



A CurtainUp Review
Poor Beast in the Rain

By Carolyn Balducci

I didn't come back to haunt you.--Danger
You didn't need to come back to do that! ---Molly
What haunts all the characters in Poor Beast in the Rain is the memory of friends or loved ones who have abandoned or betrayed them. In Billy Roche's award-winning play, none of the six characters have broken free of the recent past. Trapped like flies in amber in their provincial south-eastern Irish city with nothing better to do than to hang around a betting parlour, the middle-aged jovial Joe and the ever-hopeful young Georgie bet on dog track races and obsess about the town's champion hurling team. The characters' constant reference to British and American pop music and movies as well as to local pub entertainers sheds light on their provincial life. By never once alluding to Wexford's medieval castles and monasteries or its legendary coastal beauty, the characters reveal their cultural ambiguity. Indeed, the rough and tumble 2000 year old Celtic field game of hurling, is there sole connection to the continuum of Irish history.

Georgie is in love with Eileen, the pretty daughter of Steve, the taciturn bookie, even filching a recording of her favorite song, "One Way Love" from a juke box just to make her happy. While Georgie does his best to impress the lovely Eileen, Joe spins highly entertaining yarns about the antics of his wild youth. They both endure the mockery of the sour Molly, the cleaning woman. "Welcome to the ranks of the left behind, Georgie" she scoffs, as she tries to warn him that Eileen is not as innocent as she looks.

While the entire town of Wexford rides the coat-tails of the local hurling team's victory at the All-Ireland Championship, this fleeting moment of glory is over-shadowed by the arrival of an unwelcome visitor. After a ten year absence, Danger Doyle returns to Wexforth to bring Eileen back to London to see her mother, the woman with whom he had run away. This scandal has changed the lives of all the other characters, even his own. By the time the play ends, Georgie will learn that, like her mother, Eileen also prefers "juke box fellows and carnival boys" to ordinary blokes like himself. While Joe's bluster has created a local folk hero out of his former partner-in-crime, in reality Danger Doyle is shackled to the consequences of his adulterous elopement. The play reveals that Danger had run off with Eileen's mother (Steven's wife) in revenge against friends who had not stood by him when he was arrested for a petty crime. Steve, who says he had always hoped he would 'sneak through life unnoticed' has become famous as a cuckholded husband. A sullen man of few words, by the end of the play, his unexpressed agony over Eileen's impending departure becomes palpable.

The caliber of the direction by Terence Lamude is outstanding. The characters' passions sensibilities and self-doubts dance around the Irish Arts Center's small stage like players on a hurling field. The resilient beauty of Tracy Coogan and the comedic skills of John Keating, the two younger actors, merit praise. As Molly, Bernadette Quigley lends depth and insight to the role of a woman so bitter she can neither love nor be loveable ever again. Mickey Kelly brings forth the self-delusion and dishonesty of the good old boy he plays, almost a role within a role. More subtle are the understated and nuanced performances of Colin Lane and Steve Brady, playing men who are mortal enemies yet who have lost the will to fight.

A Handful of Stars, Poor Beast in the Rain and Belfry form Roche's acclaimed Wexford trilogy. All have been produced in Ireland and in England on stage and TV with great success, earning critical praise and many awards. Poor Beast is an excellent choice for New York, where so many of us have roots elsewhere, places to which, for one reason or another, we cannot and will not ever return.

POOR BEAST IN THE RAIN
Written by Billy Roche
Director: Terence Lamude
Cast: Steve Brady, Tracy Coogan, John Keating, Mickey Kelly, Colin Lane, Bernadette Quigley
Set Design: Harry Feiner
Costume Design: Barbara Forbes
Lighting Design: Tom Sturge
Sound Design: Tom Gould
Running Time: 2 1/2 Hours including one 15-minute intermission
Irish Arts Center, 553 West 51st Street (10th/11th Aves) 212/ 206-1515
From 11/02/02--12/08/02; opening 11/13/2002
Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 3pm. Reviewed by Carolyn Balducci based on performance of 11/12/02.
metaphors dictionary cover
6, 500 Comparative Phrases including 800 Shakespearean Metaphors by CurtainUp's editor.
Click image to buy.
Go here for details and larger image.



broadwaynewyork.com


The Broadway Theatre Archive


amazon


©Copyright 2002, Elyse Sommer, CurtainUp.
Information from this site may not be reproduced in print or online without specific permission from esommer@curtainup.com