|
Scenes From the Big Picture
By Owen McCafferty
Directed by Scott Cummins
Produced by Seanachai Theatre Company
At the Chicago Cultural Center Storefront Theater
66 E. Randolph Street
Chicago, IL
Call 312-742-8497; www.seanachai.org
Thursdays thru Saturdays at 7:30 pm
Sundays at 3 pm
Running time is 2 hours, 40 minutes with 2 intermissions
Through October 5, 2008
“I think we have as much control over what happens as the lumps of dead meat we carry around.”
-- Joe Hynes
Modern Irish storytelling deftly covers a day in Belfast
Seanachai (pronounced SHAWN-uh-kee) is the Gaelic word for storyteller. How appropriate for their production of Owen McCafferty’s “Scenes From the Big Picture” which is a play that depicts a day in the life of 21 characters in contemporary Belfast, Northern Ireland. Without ever mentioning “The Troubles,” McCafferty depicts through 24 hours in the life of 21 characters into 40 snippets that smashes the ‘big picture.’ This is wonderful modern Irish storytelling piece that weaves several stories giving us a glimpse into today’s Belfast life. 
Director Scott Cummins has most of the actors sitting around the large two level black box stage ready to enter and leave the stage when their scene arrives or departs. This device gives the 40 scenes continuity and a sense of wholeness. We meet and see how the 21 characters, as a cross-section of Northern Irish culture, interact with one another. They court, love, injure and search for survival, excitement and companionship. From local kids defining their relationships, to a drug dealer and his girl, to a shopkeeper and his sickly wife trying to survive, to a barren wife struggling hold on to her husband, to a father who mourns the death of a son whose body is missing, to estranged brothers struggling to deal with their dead fathers possessions, to a bar keep madly in love with a married man, and a meat processing manager struggling to keep the business afloat—“Scenes” intertwines these stories into 2 hours and 40 minutes of swiftly paced Irish storytelling that engages us and holds us from the start. It is as if we are catapulted to Belfast to bare witness to their stories.
This is a major theatrical achievement for Seanachai Theatre Company, director Scott Cummins and the terrific ensemble that nicely sported rich Northern Irish brogues. Led by John Dunleavy (Bobbie Torbett), Eamonn McDonagh (Shanks O’Neill) and Kate McDonnell (Maeve Hynes), “Scenes” features many fine performances including Margaret Kustermann and Don Blair as the shopkeepers, Jeff Christian as Dave Black with outstanding turns from Jamie Abelson as Bop Torbett, J David Moeller as Frank Coin and Niall McGrinty as Cooper Jones among others. You’d be hard pressed to find a stronger cast in any show.
 |
“Scenes” is a long and complicated story that plays smoothly and is easy to follow. Credit director Cummins’ staging and McCaffery’s clearly succinct writing for keeping us engaged throughout. The clever weaving of each story into a whole works to produce a fine dramatic arc of theatricality. This ambitious work proves that, in the hands of crafty artists, multiple stories can be shaped into the ‘big picture’ of city life. This show is a major theatrical achievement. It is a premier on how to tell several stories in one play. This flawless show is wonderful entertainment. Don’t miss it.
Highly Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: August 30, 2008
Jeff Recommended
|
