Playwright: J. M. Synge
At: The Artistic Home, 1420 W. Irving
Phone: (773) 404-1100; $17-$20
Runs through: April 10
The death of poet John Millington Synge in 1909, three weeks shy of 38, robbed Irish literature of a playwright of enormous potential. In the brief six years he wrote plays, Synge completed one full-length masterpiece—the cheekily-titled Playboy of the Western World—and five other mostly short plays. Three of them are presented by the Artistic Home in a splendid evening that's simple in means but rich in substance.
Synge was sickly, but his plays are lusty and robust. This triple bill features his comedies, In the Shadow of the Glen and The Tinker's Wedding, both of which celebrate the flesh and dirt-poor bog Irish peasantry at its most scheming and blasphemous. In the former, a young widow flirts while her husband's corpse lies still-warm in the parlor (and not quite dead, as it turns out). In the latter, an arrogant and avaricious priest is baited by three roguish tinkers, any of whom would sell the other two for the price of a drink. In between the comedies is Synge's exemplary one-act tragedy Riders to the Sea, in which an old woman loses the last of six sons to the inexorable ocean. Mournful in character, it's no less earthy and primal than the comedies.
With each work staged by a different director and featuring mostly different actors, unity of style could suffer. Not to worry. The ensemble technique that's the basis of the Artistic Home is evident in the high spirits that energize all three plays. The sharp attack, and the outsized playing that nonetheless always remains believable within the confines of the tiny theater, have become hallmarks of this ensemble, along with attention to details of dialect and emotional moods.
The women score mightily, especially D. Jenna Wasmuth as the young widow Nora; Susan Burke as the old widow Maurya, resigned to her fateful link with the sea; Maria Stephens as the young tinker harridan and CeCe Klinger as her would-be mother-in-law, as conniving and disgusting an old bag lady as you'll ever see. Capably partnered with them are Matt Stevens as a romantic tramp, Michael Byrne as the taciturn tinker and Eric Roach as the greasy priest, among others.
The scenic elements—a suggestion of sod bricks, a gate, a door, a fireplace—are minimal but sufficient. Visually, this production comes alive with the filthy and ragged clothing of these poor and rural Irish, the dirt heavily caked upon their faces. Criticized in his lifetime for portraying the worst Irish character traits, Synge truly was celebrating the spirit and strength of his people, degraded through 400 years of political oppression, cultural repression, property dispossession and famine. The rich tradition of Irish folk tales—from which Synge's work derives—is heroic, even when peopled by scallywags.