Outside Mullingar is a charming offering by the renowned TheatreWorks Company and loaded with award-winning actors, director and playwright. You can’t blink without looking at a prize winner from a Nobel to Oscars, Tonys and you can throw in a Lifetime achievement award. It’s never a question of “will it be “good?” You know if it’s TheatreWorks it WILL be good. So it is with Outside Mullingar, a captivating moment spent on an Irish farm with all of its humor, sadness and life decisions.
Rosemary has been in love with very sweet, mild, unsophisticated Anthony since childhood and nearing 40 she sets out to make a definite move to let him know how she feels. Meanwhile, Anthony’s father and Rosemary’s mother discuss the complicated property situation that creates a needed decision. The soft Irish brogue that is used throughout the play is well done and understandable.
Rod Brogan (Anthony), Jessica Wortham (Rosemary), Steve Brady (Anthony’s aging father Tony) and Lucinda Hitchcock Cone, (Rosemary’s aging mother Aoife) are all sophisticated in their presentations. They blend with the plot and each other making director Robert Kelly’s deft staging smooth and believable.
Andrea Bechert’s 28th TheatreWorks scenic design brings in delightful changing scenes on a turntable that takes the audience inside and out of the homes involved. Sound designer Cliff Caruthers makes the Irish brogue come across easily.
Outside Mullingar is a charmer, an opportunity to sit back, relax and enjoy theatre at its best.
Outside Mullingar
By John Patrick Shanley
Directed by Robert Kelly
Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St, Mountain View
Performances through Oct. 30
Tickets: $19-$80; call (650) 463-1960, or visit www.theatreworks.org
