SEARCH CurtainUp
REVIEWS
FEATURES
NEWS (Etcetera)
ADDRESS BOOKS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
Los Angeles
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
On TKTS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
NYC Weather
Foley
By Jenny Sandman
|
We are free to choose, and we are always wrong.
-- ---Foley |
Vincent Doherty (at piano), Andrew
Bennett
(Photo: Carol Rosegg) |
It's a simple play, with one character and one story. Foley, played admirably by Andrew Bennett, shuffles about the nearly-bare stage in his bathrobe, telling us of his life and his family. His parents, part of a dwindling minority of upper-class Irish Protestants, were emotionally distant and too involved in their own issues to pay much attention to Foley. He resents their coldness, finding refuge in his younger sister. But when his sister dies, he is left adrift, and turns to a woman he doesn't really love for solace. When he realizes that marrying her would involve conversion, the one act guaranteed to ostracize him from the family, he gladly becomes Catholic. But the marriage doesn't last, and he is unable (and unwilling) to attempt any reconciliation with his parents. Cut off from his roots, he cannot come to terms with his past or his anger, and so is denied any self-knowledge or healing.
As Foley tells his story, he postulates upon the always-elusive relationship between memory and truth, wandering between what really happened, what he wanted to happen, and what should have happened. It is an elegiac play-- half-eloquent, half-disingenuous-- backed up with plaintive piano music and moody lighting.
The language and imagery are beautiful, and there is something inherently comforting about listening to a lilting Irish brogue for any length of time. Bennett is best when he is impersonating his family; indeed, these scenes provide some much-needed comic relief.
West shows real talent as a writer, but the play lacks movement or tension. Despite Bennett's fine acting, there is little to hold the audience's attention. At best it is passive; at worst, stagnant. It is an 85-minute soliloquy about the past, after all, and since Foley readily identifies himself as an unreliable narrator, there is no real reason for us to become caught up in his story. And so Foley is left alone, again.
|
FOLEY Written by Michael West Directed by Annie Ryan Starring Andrew Bennett Music by Vincent Doherty Lighting Design by Eamon Fox Costume Design by Suzanne Cave The Irish Repertory Theatre, 132 West 22nd Street; 212-727-2737 Running time: 1 hour and 15 minutes, without intermission Tickets $35-40 3/11/03-4/19/03; opening 3/12/03 Tuesday through Saturday at 8, Wednesday at 2, Saturday and Sunday at 3 Reviewed by Jenny Sandman based on March 12th performance |
At This Theater
Leonard Maltin's 2003 Movie and Video Guide
Ridiculous!The Theatrical Life & Times of Charles Ludlam
Somewhere For Me, a Biography of Richard Rodgers
The New York Times Book of Broadway: On the Aisle for the Unforgettable Plays of the Last Century
6, 500 Comparative Phrases including 800 Shakespearean Metaphors by CurtainUp's editor.
Click image to buy.
Go here for details and larger image.
