How it’s New York: The Saviour is at Irish Repertory Theatre, one of New York’s best Off-Broadway houses
How it’s Irish: Playwright Deirdre Kinahan is Irish, and the play is set in Ireland
Marie Mullen is a gem.
That’s it. That’s the essence.
To see and hear actress Marie Mullen (DruidShakespeare; DruidSynge) portray a character for 90 minutes, with some of that a long monologue, is a rare treat.
A great play is not only about story: it is also about character.
The Saviour is an oddity: Irish playwright Deirdre Kinahan’s two-hander is almost a slice-of-life, a character study. It is not a big epic character study with a traditional plot like classic Miller or Williams– it’s more of a snapshot, a snapshot etched in longing, pain, myth and delusion. And as such the play, which comes to Irish Rep from Landmark Productions in Ireland, is great.
And like a candid photograph, it reveals much in details that seem almost beside the point when you first look. That picture of you as a child: nobody meant to capture the kitchen wallpaper, particularly, yet there it is.
This is the feeling you’re left with when you leave Saviour after 90 minutes. You were looking hard at the characters and what you noticed about the environment is unsettling and illuminating.
There is a story, too, of course, and it centers on Máire, played by Mullen.
Simply, Mullen plays an old lady who’s just had a night of… yep… SEX.
She talks to her saviour about it.
And the sex!
Which was a surprise I can tell you.
Because sex has always been a matter of mechanics for me.
But you know that don’t you Jesus.
You’ve been with me long enough.
Sex has always been a means to an end.Foisted on me when I didn’t want it or offered for a bit of peace.
Listening to her as she tries to make sense of it is delightful, and yet you’re uneasy. Why is Martin taking so long to bring her coffee? Máire’s night of good sex causes her to reflect on her marriage, her time working in a laundry, on Ireland itself.
We feel the deception long before it’s spelled out. And it turns out to be not just what we think.
Her son arrives (an earnest Jamie O’Neill), with a present for her birthday– a present for the girl she was, a doll. He wants to somehow save her from her own past. She cannot quite come to terms with his homosexuality.
He also has some news about her unseen visitor.
It makes you rethink everything you’ve heard.
As Máire continues to speak to her saviour, all we can do is wonder whether she, or anyone, can be saved.
