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'Shadow of a Gunman': A tale of troubles, reflecting our own

Sean O'Casey's Shadow of a Gunman references many particulars of the bloody 1918-21 Irish War for Independence: the Black and Tans, the Battle of Vinegar Hill, the back-and-forth trading of Irish ambushes and British slaughters.

Time of the assassins: Kevin Rodden (left) and Dexter Anderson in the Irish Heritage Theatre's production of Sean O'Casey's drama "Shadow of a Gunman." (KEITH MILLER)
Time of the assassins: Kevin Rodden (left) and Dexter Anderson in the Irish Heritage Theatre's production of Sean O'Casey's drama "Shadow of a Gunman." (KEITH MILLER)Read more

Sean O'Casey's Shadow of a Gunman references many particulars of the bloody 1918-21 Irish War for Independence: the Black and Tans, the Battle of Vinegar Hill, the back-and-forth trading of Irish ambushes and British slaughters.

There's no need, though, for any familiarity with these events in Irish Heritage Theatre's thoughtful production, or in O'Casey's poetic denunciation of the violence that plagued Ireland during his early literary career.

The play's title refers to Donal Davoren (Dexter Anderson), a studious young tenement dweller who hacks away at his typewriter, quoting and praising the superior works of Irish playwrights while struggling to find his own voice. When the building's other residents mistake him for an IRA assassin, he doesn't correct them, particularly when he's asked to solve their petty disputes or when it earns him the doting affection of a pretty girl (Josephine Patane as an endearing Minnie).

His roommate Seumas (Kevin Rodden), however, keeps loose affiliations with the IRA, and those ties bring the wrath of the Auxiliaries down on the building (Jeff Barth very capably playing a member of that violent organization).

Most of the play shows Donal and Seumas as young men restless in a tiny apartment cage. Anderson and Rodden inspire in these roles, playing them as precursors to a kind of boarding-house Estragon and Vladimir, one just posing as an assassin.

Under Peggy Mecham and John Gallagher's straightforward direction, the ensemble fares well in the roles. Dramatically, slice-of-life naturalism still rules, and Shadow includes several characters who provide color, but otherwise do little to motivate the plot. John Cannon takes full advantage of this aspect of O'Casey's text, stealing scenes as a hypocritical, Bible-quoting drunk.

Thursday's thin audience seemed hesitant to laugh at Irish jokes primarily targeting the poor behavior of Irishmen. A more insistent delivery may have helped, and definitely would have leavened the seriousness of O'Casey's poetry, which reminds us that "there's an ugliness that can be made beautiful and an ugliness that can only be destroyed."

The small beauty found in this production will not stamp out the latter, but functions like O'Casey's first attempts at poetry: a lament condemning political violence while refusing to glorify its heroes. Ignore the particulars of the setting - today, this production targets anyone touched by the dozens of conflicts, domestic or foreign, that still inflict suffering.

THEATER REVIEW

Shadow of a Gunman

At the Skybox at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., through April 26.

Tickets: $15-$25.

Information: www.irishheritagetheatre.org

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