'The Ferryman': Epic of Irish pathos & politics

‘THE FERRYMAN’: (left to right) Willow McCarthy, Brooklyn Shuck, Genevieve O’Reilly & Matilda Lawler. Photo: Joan Marcus

THE FERRYMAN
Written by Jez Butterworth
Directed by Sam Mendes
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
242 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.theferrymanbroadway.com

By Scott Harrah

Jez Butterworth’s third Broadway drama is also his most provocative. The Ferryman, which recently opened on Broadway after an Olivier Award-winning, sold-out run in London’s West End, is a complicated epic. With a running time of more than three hours, complete with actors speaking in thick Irish brogues, a storyline filled with Anglo-Irish political themes, multiple characters and a plot that sometimes delves into the metaphysical, it is not for the fainthearted or those seeking a light evening of theater. However, for those familiar with the past conflict between the Irish Republican Catholics and U.K.-loyal Protestants in Northern Ireland during the late 20^th century, Mr. Butterworth’s saga is a multi-layered, searing reminder of centuries-old animosities, exquisitely directed and produced.

The Anglo-Irish conflict in Northern Ireland, often called “the Troubles,” was at its worst in 1981 when the story takes place. As the play opens, three IRA goons are shown in a rural area of Derry ambushing a priest, Father Horrigan (Charles Dale). The leader Muldoon (Stuart Graham) tells the priest to keep quiet about a well-preserved corpse of the late Seamus Carney recovered in a nearby bog. This proves to be troubling because the priest knows the Carney family well.

The remainder of the show is set in the home of the Carney family farm in rural County Armagh. Quinn Carney (Paddy Considine) lives there with his ill wife Mary (Genevieve O’Reilly) and seven children, along with sister-in-law and Seamus’ widow Caitlin (Laura Donnelly), Uncle Patrick (Mark Lambert), cranky, chain-smoking Aunt Patricia (Dearbhla Molloy) and wheelchair-bound elderly Aunt Maggie Far Away (Fionnula Flanagan). The Carneys are preparing for the harvest while news of 10 Republican prisoners on a hunger strike disturbs the family, especially since British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher refuses to capitulate to any of the IRA’s demands. Father Horrigan arrives to speak in private to Caitlin about the grim news of her husband’s body being found after a decade. When her son Oisin (Rob Malone) eavesdrops and hears the truth about his father, the rest of the play becomes a guessing game of what the ramifications might be. Should the English be blamed? The IRA? Others?

Mr. Butterworth weaves a complex spell in a story featuring more than 20 characters, a live goose and rabbit, a real infant, Irish dancing, revelry and pathos. Granted, some of what is presented here seems riddled in Irish clichés—drinking, quarreling, quoting literature and anti-English diatribes—but the narrative is often compelling and there is a haunting sincerity to the characters and their predicament. Rob Howell’s rustic set is all too real and the performances are consistently outstanding. Paddy Considine is first rate as patriarch Quinn, as is Laura Donnelly as the long-suffering Caitlin. Both Mr. Considine and Ms. Donnelly have the most difficult tasks in the story, displaying a wide range of emotions from joy to tragedy as the tale unfolds. In addition, the supporting cast’s performances are some of the show’s greatest assets, particularly Fionnula Flanagan as Aunt Maggie Far Away. When she breaks out of her mental fog to deliver a soliloquy about the one true love who always eluded her, it’s one of the true show-stopping moments of The Ferryman. Justin Edwards is also noteworthy with his portrayal of the awkward English farmhand and longtime family friend, Tom Kettle.

Director Sam Mendes brilliantly directs the amazing ensemble of actors, which could not have been easy considering the many dialects depicted here. The Ferryman might be a hard sell to American audiences unfamiliar with the intricacies of Irish history and conflicts, but beneath the political veneer, Mr. Butterworth’s epic has all the elements of a great tragedy, centered on a family slowly losing everything, from love to trust and hope.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 25, 2018
Reviewed at October 24, 2018 press performance.