Review
Crestfall
59East59 St Theatres
October 18, 2005
VanLoan
vanloan@nyconstage.org
Mark O' Rowe while relatively unknown here in the States is white-hot in this native Ireland. A natural monologist (as seen in his last NYC outing Howie the Rookie) Mr. O' Rowe's milieu is the underbelly of well-mannered society. His affinity to the pimps, whores, grifters, and drunks provides an ideal backdrop for his brutal imagination. But it is the ice pick sharpness of his dialogue that sends the play into its nightmarish heights. The true thrill of the evening is listening to the lurid, in the gutter lushness of the language. One is left rather dazed at the end of the evening.
The plot revolves around a day in the village of Crestfall. A violent incident occurs and is related by three different women. Each brings a different piece to the puzzle (as well as viewpoint) until a Roshomon-like conclusion ensues. Each of the women Olive a sex addict, Allison a mother with a brain damaged son and Tilly a drug-addicted prostitute form a bizarre sisterhood that somehow provides a satisfying coda to all the violence and mayhem that has proceeded it. Due to the small playing space, George C. Heslin's staging is a tad clunky but he has enlisted smashing performances from all his actresses. It is a disturbing yet oddly fulfilling evening.
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