By Marcina Zaccaria . . .
An evening of bliss becomes a morality tale as we follow a 67-year-old woman who encounters the truths of an unseemly past in The Saviour.
Marie Mullen (Tony Award, The Beauty Queen of Leenane) evokes God in the unexpected appreciation of body and soul after an evening with the new man in her life: Martin, a local odd jobs man. Having not been with a man in some time, this reverent woman shares not only the physical details of her encounter but also all her unanticipated emotions. The sound design, by Aoife Kavanagh (Ghosts), is rich, backing up each phrase by playwright Deirdre Kinahan. With careful direction by Louise Lowe, the story involves the audience more deeply when this moment of the present leads to memories of the past.
It is an emotionally engrossing journey for Máire as she thinks back on the great years with her first husband, Colin, with whom she had two children. What started as a simple story of two people meeting at work became the foundation of her existence. In other words, living with Colin gave her life meaning. She recalls the great days with her former husband on 4th Street, having two children, and finally feeling American. This intricate series of passages illuminate her present; and while we see a white-haired woman, unafraid of all sentiment, elevated in spirit on her 67th birthday, we understand why the best years of her life were spent with family. After that, loneliness and loss filled her every day.
It’s almost reassuring, then, when her son, Mel, appears with the lovely gift of a doll. Moving from the bedroom to a kitchenette, Máire offers Mel a cup of tea. In an astonishing sequence, Mel, played credibly by Dublin-born actor Jamie O’Neill, reveals that Martin is an ex-convict. Mel insists that his mother stop seeing the man whose name and image were featured in the local newspapers, having done prison time. Then, he persists in asking the more difficult questions: has Martin spent time with his daughter (her grandchild) Lucy? Were they ever left in a room together, without supervision?
The 67-year-old mother is appalled by this inquisition, and then stunned when attempting to recall each time Martin was in her home. A seemingly devoted Catholic, Máire explains that she met Martin at church. She pleads with Mel, explaining that Martin is good, and if he had such a past, perhaps he is rehabilitated now. Such a persistent, nagging truth is made more complicated when she reveals that she’d heard of Martin’s past but feels he has gotten much better. Wanting the perfection of a room without shame or abuse, she retreats into her bedroom and is followed by her son, who wishes that she would see the light.
As with other shows at Irish Repertory Theatre, the poetry in The Saviour is striking. It finds the unlikely deep combination of bliss and horror. As we follow the oppositional threads woven into the story, the Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage shakes with a sense that the foundations on which a life can be built can also be rocked.
The Saviour. Through August 13 at Irish Repertory Theatre (132 West 22nd Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues). www.irishrep.org
Photos: Carol Rosegg
