Tag Archives: JL Greene Theatre

The United States vs Ulysses

Off-Broadway, Play May 28, 2025 Leave a comment

In 1933, the landmark trial of “United States v. One Book Called Ulysses” cleared the way for the publication of many significant works of literature that include sexual content and adult language.  Though James Joyce’s seminal novel was readily available in Europe at the time, it had twice been deemed obscene by a New York court. Random House founder, Bennett Cerf, determined that being the first in America to print the book in its entirety would launch them into the big leagues.  To that end, his company attorney, Morris Ernst, strategized what became a test case for freedom of expression.  Judge Woolsey’s deeply considered decision is practically a literary work in itself.

The events of the trial — its echos reverberating off the walls of today’s public libraries and scholastic institutions — form the foundation of The United States vs Ulysses currently running at the Irish Arts Center.  Playwright Colin Murphy takes the name of the actual case to heart, positioning sections of the book in the role of defendant.  He also fuses the courtroom drama with a rather unrefined behind the scenes look at the live reenactment produced by CBS’s The March of Time.  

This multilayered investigation is executed by a skillful cast of six under the adept hand of director Conall Morrison.  The send-up of the radio broadcast gives way to a serious lesson in interpretive performance.  The ensemble moves through characters historic and fictional, often brushing one against the other.  Jonathan White provides cohesion even while portraying a number of different narrator types.  Clare Barrett is an utter delight as Molly Bloom, especially in her interactions with Morgan C. Jones’s cerebral Judge Woolsey.  Ali White serves as a counterbalance to Barrett’s wild abandon, taking on the sterner female roles.  Ross Gaynor pulls off playing Bennett Cerf and the prosecuting lawyer as well as Molly’s oily lover.  Ernst is rendered by Mark Lambert, personifying this production’s blend of honest reflection and sharp-edged humor.  

The Cast of The United States vs Ulysses; Photo by Nir Arieli

The entire design team facilitates the slide between modes of storytelling. The actors are able to switch roles with the rapid exchange of a hat, the wrapping of a scarf or the removal of glasses (costumes by Catherine Fay).  Liam Doona’s set is like a gift box, with sound proofed radio studio opening to reveal Paris, Dublin, and the Southern District of New York.  Each state of the narrative is given its own tonal palette thanks in large part to John Comiskey’s lighting.  Music and sound by Simon Kenny enhance the atmosphere.

Combining elements of history, literature, law, society and culture, The United States vs Ulysses reminds us of the fight which won us the right to read whatever we choose.  Along the way, it pokes fun at the powerful men who tried to silence a fictional woman for being a sexual being.  Performances continue through Sunday, June 1, at The JL Greene Theatre in the Irish Arts Center,  726 11th Avenue.  There is a lovely cafe in the lobby that is open before and after the show.  Runtime is a sleek 85 minutes.  Tickets start at $25 and are available at https://irishartscenter.org/event/the-united-states-vs-ulysses.

HOTHOUSE

fringe, Off-Broadway, Theater Event November 3, 2024 Leave a comment

Fringe Festivals are known for launching imaginative artists and exploring unconventional art forms.  Content is uncensored and therefore often provocative, sometimes to the point of discomfort.  Those traits are true of HOTHOUSE, a performance work from 2023’s Dublin Fringe.  Written by Carys D. Coburn (co-founder of the award-winning collective, Malaprop), the theatrical statement piece loosely strings together generational abuse, repressed feelings, and Rachel Carson’s 1962 book Silent Spring, which led to the discontinued use of DDT in farming and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.  

Ebby O’Toole Acheampong , Maeve O’Mahony, Peter Corboy, Thommas Kane Byrne, and
Bláithín Mac Gabhann in HOTHOUSE; Photo by Nir Arieli

Entering the well-raked, friendly JL Greene Theatre, we are greeted with a medley of “bird” songs from Bye Bye Birdie to Bird is the Word.  This motif continues into Section 1, a performance within a performance on the cruise ship Crystal Prophecy.  Scenes from the life of Ruth — a young girl growing up in an abusive household who finds solace in Carson’s writing — are played out in cabaret style.  Periodically a species of Las Vegas Showgirl “bird” goes dramatically extinct with a little help from the Captain.  The palette and mood tonally shift in Section 2 as our Captain undergoes a “shamanic transformation.” It is the near future and Ruth’s daughter, Ali, is a passenger cruising on the Crystal Prophecy to see the last of the ice caps.  The epilogue moves us further forward into a time when Annie’s great grandson is growing up in a new normal.  Years are displayed boldly within the burning sun stage left to help us keep track.

The family functions more as a container for Coburn’s thoughts on our rapidly changing world, with issues overtaking narrative and character development.  Along the path we hit stock Irish cultural touchstones from whiskey to Enya.  That doesn’t stop the ensemble from quite literally leaving it all on the floor.  For the full 90 minutes, they work as a unit: dancing, singing, and switching roles in an array of campy life-vest orange costumes designed by Molly O’Cathain from the original Irish production and fabulous wigs by Carina Metz from the U.S.creative team.  Director Claire O’Reilly, a Malaprop co-founder, ignores gender and age in leveraging the talent.  The way she stages a flurry of activity towards the end of Section 2 is particularly clever.  Peter Corboy’s Captain functions as the rudder with Thommas Kane Byrne the most fluttery of the sails.  Maeve O’Mahony (another Malaprop co-founder), Bláithín Mac Gabhann, and Ebby O’Toole-Acheampong breathe life into characters who are tragically emotionally out to sea even on dry land.  While it is unlikely you will whistle any of Anna Clock’s songs upon leaving the theater, the tunes do work to connect the various jigsaw pieces.  

Even with little that would pass as realistic dialogue, HOTHOUSE is certain to spark conversation.  Though short on structure, it is long on dizzying feeling and visual impact (The original festival iteration won for Best Ensemble and Best Production Design.)  The North American debut runs through November 17 at the Irish Arts Center, 726 11th Avenue.  Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased at https://irishartscenter.org/event/malaprop-hothouse.  

Agreement

Off-Broadway, Play April 22, 2024 Leave a comment

The younger generations in America may not remember “The Troubles,” a violent nationalist, religious and political conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted over 30 years and reverberated through England and mainland Europe. It was declared at an end on Good Friday of 1998 after a long and difficult negotiation led to an agreement between factions.  The brave and complex process that led to the signing of this historical document is dramatized in Agreement, currently running at the JL Green Theatre in New York.

Senator George Mitchell (Richard Croxford) had been sent by then-President Bill Clinton to facilitate the proceedings.  He described it as simultaneously juggling knives and balloons.  For those unfamiliar with this historic event, the other participants in the room were:

Gerry Adams (Chris Corrigan): president of Sinn Féin, which was associated with the new Irish Republican Army

Bertie Ahern (Ronan Leahy): a Christian Conservative who served as the equivalent of Prime Minister of Ireland

Tony Blair (Martin Hutson): the newly elected and immensely popular British Prime Minister

John Hume (Dan Gordon): founder of the Social Democrats and Labour Party who won the Nobel Peace Prize

Mo Mowlam (Andrea Irvine): Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in Blair’s cabinet

David Trimble (Ruairi Conaghan): the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party who became the first leader of Northern Ireland

These introductions are covered in the first minutes of the play and characters frequently break the fourth wall to update the audience on their thinking and motivations.  Most of the cast members don’t look much like their real-life counterparts nor do they attempt imitation.  Rather they capture the essence of each person as seen through smiling Irish eyes.  With the gruff plain spoken delivery of his first line, Chris Corrigan’s Adams gets a knowing chuckle from the audience.  Dan Gordon’s John Hume, the realist of the group, delivers the clearest insider view. Martin Hutson plays Blair as a puffed up buffoon, high on his “mandate” stardom.  As Ahern, Ronan Leahy wonderfully performs the highest wire act both emotionally and politically.  The lone woman, Andrea Irvine has some of the same struggles as her opposite number, not given enough to do to fully define herself.  

The cast of Agreement at the Irish Arts Center

Director Charlotte Westenra could have done more to vary her actors’ approach to the text, but her straight-line approach does help audience members remember who stands where on the thorny issues.  With the focus on playwright Owen McCafferty’s fiery exchanges of dialogue, the artistic craftwork is also kept to a minimum.  The set by Conor Murphy centers on an overhead projection screen of a slowly shifting cloudy night sky.  It also serves as a television monitor and timekeeper with videos designed by Eoin Robinson.  Desks and chairs are continually rearranged by the players, more to provide variety than to establish any particular sense of place.  May Tumelty turns up the heat and the lights at key moments, which are punctuated by the contributions of composer Kate Marlais.

It is significant that the work is simply called Agreement and not “The Good Friday Agreement” or even “*The* Agreement.”  At a time when civil discourse and true negotiation seem impossible, the happenings portrayed are a refreshing reminder that informed and motivated people can find their way to a middle ground if they stay true to the greater good.  Despite passionate disputes over critical areas, democratic principles held. Ah!

Agreement continues through May 12 at the newly christened JL Greene Theatre in the Irish Arts Center, 726 11th Avenue.  The venue opened at the end of 2021 and boasts comfortable seats, a welcoming café, and a conversational staircase.  The production comes to us from the Lyric Theatre of Belfast.  Running time is 1 hour and 48 minutes with no intermission. Tickets are $25-$90 and can be purchased at https://irishartscenter.org/event/lyric-theatre-agreement.