THE LOVED ONES
by Erica Murray
Directed by Nicola Murphy Dubey
Irish Repertory Theatre
IRT Show Page
Reviewed by David Spencer
It’s very difficult to discuss playwright Erica Murray’s The Loved Ones without story spoilers because the premise is so slender that withholding details leaves you almost nothing to particularize; and that’s because a collision of personal circumstances is all there is. Which likely makes it the kind of play where foreknowledge doesn’t matter too much, since the point of is how things will polay out once circumstances collide. I’m afraid I’ll have to explain.
The location is a country house in Ireland that is now also an AirB&B. Its owner and propritor, Nell (Maryann Plunkett) is in deep, conflicted conversation with Gabby (Alana Raquel Bowers), a young woman who has showed up on her doorstep; in a very pregnant state. This is highly inconvenient for a number of reasons. Least important is the arrival of her paying houseguest, middle-aged Cheryl Ann (Donna Lynn Champlin), a chatty sort who seems oblivious—or perhaps, after long experience, just comfortably immune—to the impatience of others with her enthusiasms. Not insensitive, but she can be one for blurting things out before fully “reading the room.” More inconvenient is that Nell is awaiting the imminent arrival of her newly-widowed daughter-in-law, Orla (Clare O’Malley)so they can spread the ashes of her son, who had been a college professor.
Anything you might intuit about the coming collision is almost certainly correct.
Slim though the construction of the story is, what’s admirable about Ms. Murray’s execution is that once the chess pieces on her board collide as expected, she doesn’t thereafter follow through in as pat a manner. She doesn’t take an easy ride to the expected destination. The situation is messy; it invites loose ends that can’t be solved in a day. She’s unafraid to let them dangle, some only implicitly, remaining unarticulated.
Under the efficient direction of Nicola Murphy Dubey, all four actresses do quite well; the evening isn’t the stuff of greatness, but on its own modest terms, it’s very good.
As a postscript: I don’t know if it’s PC or not to say so, but I’ll say it anyway: Donna Lynn Champlin, one of New York’s best and most versatile stage actresses, had a period not long ago where her weight had conspicuously ballooned. She’s returned to much healthier shape without any artifacts of the effort it must have taken; looking, in fact, ten years younger than her character’s stated 50ish years old. Good for her.