This review has been reposted courtesy of the League of Cincinnati Theatres. For more LCT reviews click here to visit their reviews page.
Outside Mullingar, by John Patrick Shanley, is a charming and heartwarming, Irish, romantic comedy at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati. Director Ed Stern makes a welcome return to Cincy stages and steers this production right into our hearts and minds. Stern very rightly points to this work as a different voice than we are used to hearing from Shanley; it’s a journey into his Irish roots and as Stern describes it: “There is a lyricism, a beauty, with nuanced comedy and drama intermingled into a soft human and humane work.” Just so.
Jen Joplin as Rosemary Muldoon & Brian Isaac Phillips as Anthony Reilly. Photo by Mikki Schaffner.
The ensemble is worthy of the theatre’s name and unfolds this simple and poetic story with ease. Two longtime farm neighbors have a friendly but sometimes strained relationship over a land dispute and an incident that happened between the kids when they were young. Shanley’s characters are real and engaging and are infused with the bittersweet longing found in the characters he created in Moonstruck. Quirky and lovely, Shanley gives the characters so much narrative and so many descriptive scenes, you feel you’ve known them all your life. A very neat feat in only 90 minutes.
Area favorites Joneal Joplin as Tony Reilly, and Dale Hodges, as Aofie Muldoon, are crusty and endearing neighbors who have both lost their spouses. Both inhabit these characters completely with genuine charm and dynamic realism. Brian Isaac Phillips, usually directing at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and is its’ artistic director, was a delight to see onstage. He plays Anthony Reilly, son of Joneal Joplin’s Tony Reilly, with heartbreaking vulnerability and his scene with his dying father is a stunning revelation into the depth of both Phillips and Joplin.Tony Reillycomplains that his son has trouble “standing up for himself” and ruminates about giving the farm to his American cousin instead. But Anthony is the real poet of the land he works and dreams of flying. Phillips gives the son such pathos and an aching longing that instantly engages him with the audience. Jen Joplin as Rosemary Muldoon (and real life daughter of Joplin), is as sturdy and rugged as her male counterpart farmers Jen gives her the Irish soul of a rare beauty like the white heather she finds among the hills during her solitary walks. Jen Joplin is a study in contrasts and yet steady as the day is long, giving a beautiful and grounded performance. Brian Phillips and Jen Joplin have a lyrical quality together that was both sweet and aching for the love of each other that they can’t seem to express.
Thanks to Rocco Dal Vera’s expert vocal coaching all of the actors had spot on Irish brogues. Joe Tilford’s extravagant wagons slide on and off stage with slick, quick and complete scene changes. Bravo to the running crew! The addition of real rain and a couple of surprises at the end made this a truly remarkable set design. This is Tilford’s debut at ETC who can be found more regularly at Playhouse in the Park. It is a brilliant debut. Additional props to the perfection of set dressing by the always-on-point Shannon Rae Lutz and a moody lighting design by Resident Designer Brian Mehring sets this journey on the right course.
Don’t miss this comfortable and quirky visit to Mullingar!
For more information on the production, click here.
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 