Young people these days tend to judge experiences not based on their actual quality but on general “vibes.” That is — for those of you unfamiliar with the Gen Z lingo — the atmosphere of a particular place or situation.
Taylor Swift, for instance, is the greatest pop star in world right now not because she’s the world’s best singer. And Swifties attend her concerts not just to listen to her voice. It’s the mood, the hipness of it all — the vibes. That is what’s made her such a global success.
So, on vibes alone, you could say that the King Black Box Theatre’s production of “The Irish Pub Play,” currently running through April 13, kinda slaps. (Translation: it’s very enjoyable.)
Entering the venue, located on the third floor of a King Street shophouse, you feel like you’re stepping into a secret hideout or club. The intimate, immersive space is nothing like a traditional black-box venue.
There are no chairs. Instead, director Ziggy Schulting has most of the audience, numbering no more than two dozen people, sitting on bales of hay around the periphery of the room.
We’re flies on the wall. And some audience members were quite literally buzzing. When “The Irish Pub Play” broke into song and dance, as it does several times throughout its two-hour run time, several people around me were bopping in their seats — ahem, I mean on their bales of hay — as if they were at a Swift concert. I, too, occasionally found myself tapping along. Such are the vibes of this weirdly comic yet tragically melancholic show.
But in the theatre, vibes can only bring you so far. And while this play has edgy, brooding vibes aplenty, along with a wondrously talented cast, it’s woefully short on the substance needed to make this a complete night of theatre.
“The Irish Pub Play” is almost Chekhovian in its setup. The three O’Súlleabháin sisters are preparing for their uncle’s wake by shutting down their pub and inn for the day.
There’s a sense of ennui that permeates each of the women’s lives. The eldest, Gráinne (Bridget Ori), is hiding a secret from her husband, Lorcan (Sean Irvine). Middle sister Maura (Megan Miles) is stuck in an on-and-off relationship with Donnell (Michael Delaney), her brattish boyfriend. And the youngest sibling, Bláithín (Aurora McClennan), a former Irish dancer, is like a child who can’t — or won’t — grow up.
The family’s preparations for the wake, however, are interrupted by the arrival of a stranger. Taylor (Jenna Brown), a visitor from Canada, barges in with her late grandmother’s diary in tow. She’s booked a room at the inn, unbeknownst to the O’Súlleabháins. And she’s looking for answers about her grandmother’s past.
This premise sounds like a strong springboard for a study into the lives of these individuals. But “The Irish Pub Play,” co-written by the King Black Box company and McClennan, frustratingly leads nowhere. Its characters are wafer-thin. And its story, pulled in too many different directions, feels as incomplete as the lives of the O’Súlleabháin sisters, with plot points introduced then unexpectedly dropped.
It’s almost like this production, staged in the round, doesn’t know what it wants to be. Moments of brooding stasis are punctuated by music or comic levity. By the end, the play’s narrative collapses into itself.
There is, however, not a weak link in this ensemble of eight actors. And they each try their best to make the audience care for their characters. But I wished, across the board, that they could sink their teeth into something meatier.
There’s no doubt the King Black Box holds much promise. “The Irish Pub Play” is just their third production. And they’ve proved, despite their modest size, that they can go toe to toe with the most established indie companies in the city. They certainly have the talent and leadership needed to take on that challenge. Now they only need the right material.
