By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com
photo by Tim Fuller
All eyes are on Mr. Lockhart. They are (from left) Matt Walley, Robert Anthony Peters, Ryan Parker Knox, Aaron Shand and Joseph McGrath.
We always like to think Hell is such an unpopular place the Devil must spend an inordinate amount of time going about disguised as an innocent human so he can trick stressed out real humans into making their own desperate deals with the Devil.
The deal is always the same – he (the Devil) will save the human from some immediate threat in return for the promise to come back later and claim the person's soul for eternal damnation.
Irish playwright Conor McPherson takes this beloved bit of lore and weaves from it a delightfully confrontational lesson about the permanence of a promise in “The Seafarer” running through March 19 at The Rogue Theatre.
McPherson is successfully tilling the traditional soil of fragile Irish Catholic souls caught in the net of alcoholic delirium, with no idea how to free themselves or do much of anything except have another drink.
To me, the fondness of laughing at these figures is akin to the American enjoyment for making fun of hillbillies, red necks and anyone else from Appalachia. These rural types aren't bad people, they just have a different way of looking at things.
McPherson uses all of the first act to create a hilarious Christmas Eve gathering of three friends in their early 40s determined to drink themselves into a holiday spirit of good cheer to all.
There is voluble Richard (Matt Walley), accidentally blinded a year ago while rummaging through a dumpster; his younger brother Sharky (Aaron Shand), the de facto caretaker of Richard; and Ivan (Ryan Parker Knox), a friend equally stymied by the requirements for living a more responsible life.
They are joined by sort of a friend Nicky (Robert Anthony Peters), who is a little better set financially, and the intimidatingly dressed Mr. Lockhart (Joseph McGrath), so proper in a black suit, black hat and black overcoat, all emphasizing the brightness of his red tie.
The cast, directed by Christopher Johnson, is precisely timed, practically choreographed, moving about the stage to reflect their wandering minds. We are easily caught up in their antics and ineffectiveness.
Ivan has not only misplaced his glasses, but also his car. He can't seem to find it anywhere. Sharky, in a burst of misplaced enthusiasm has decided to stop drinking over the Christmas holiday. That decision isn't going well, either.
Walley gives the performance of his life making Richard the crankiest and also most touching of this lot, determined to survive any hardship coming his way, just by opening another bottle.
As we wind through Act Two, we learn it is the tradition of these friends to play poker all night on Christmas Eve, so they obligingly invite Mr. Lockhart to join them.
Sharky thinks the strange gentleman somehow looks familiar. They share a compelling scene together as Mr. Lockhart teasingly reminds him of the event 25 years ago when they met in jail in another town. Sharky had been charged with murder, but then the jailer suddenly set Sharky free.
“I arranged that,” said Mr. Lockhart, a sudden chill frosting the air.
His memory shaken, Sharky quakes in fear. Quickly this tension is broken by the returning friends, full of good cheer because they chased away some “winos” in the street. But there is much more to be revealed.
“The Seafarer” continues through March 19 with performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. matinees Saturdays and Sundays, at The Rogue Theatre in the Historic Y, 300 E. University Blvd.
Tickets are $42, student rush $15. For further details and reservations, phone 520-551-2053, or visit www.TheRogueTheatre.org
The theater's COVID protocol strongly recommends wearing masks in the theater.
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