(Production photo by Carol Rosegg.)

by Tim Leininger

NEW YORK — Erica Murray’s new play The Loved Ones, making its New York City premiere at Irish Repertory Theatre at 1323 W. 22^nd St., directed by Nicola Murphy Dubey, running through Aug. 2, has a lot going for it. It has an engaging premise with dynamic characters, but like many stories of this nature, it drops the ball in the second act, taking a promising story and wrapping it up in a cliché addled conclusion.

            Set in a farmhouse in West Clare, Ireland, Nell (Maryann Plunkett) is a grieving mother who has recently lost her son, Robin. Her farmhouse has been converted into a bed and breakfast with one current patron, a kind, if eccentric American, Cheryl-Ann (Donna Lynne Champlin) who has an obsession with birdwatching. When a young woman, Gabby (Alana Raquel Bowers) who was a student of Robin’s shows up at Nell’s pregnant with Robin’s child, drama ensues as Nell can’t believe her son would not only have sex with a student of his, but also cheat on his wife, Orla (Clare O’Malley), who shows up at the house with Robin’s ashes. Initially Nell and Gabby try to hide that Gabby’s child is Robin’s from Orla. Facts and truths come out though and a reckoning comes due between the three women, as Nell and Orla’s relationship has never been strong, and Orla, who has had four pregnancies that failed to come to term, squares off against a woman who is having her deceased husband’s baby.

(Production photo by Carol Rosegg.)

            I have no faults with the cast, they’re all wonderful. O’Malley does a great job in depicting Orla’s anger with both Gabby and Robin, while also dealing with inner sense of inadequacy. Bowers makes Gabby tender, if naïve, in thinking that telling the grieving Nell that she’s having her grandchild would be something they can come together over. She has a wonderful few moments at the end of act 1 where we see her slowly change physically as the trauma of the conflict affects her. It’s subtle compared to the more eruptive actions taking place across stage between Orla and Nell in that moment, but its great to watch. Champlin is the comic relief of the play as the birdwatching Cheryl-Ann. She makes her a bit oblivious to tact and situational awareness leading to some of the funniest moments in the play, but she also gets some strong moments that give a little bit of comfort to the other characters. Maryann Plunkett caries the heaviest dramatic moments as she becomes inconsolable with the drama around her son and its aftermath, and she performs it with crippling heartache.

            Where the play falters is with the finale of act 1 and the fallout in act 2. The only reason the play needs an intermission is because Plunkett needs a costume change after an unfortunate accident happens to Nell, otherwise the play would run about 1 hour 40-45 minutes.

(Production photo by Carol Rosegg.)

Pregnant women are almost like Chekov’s gun in theater. If you’re going to have one, there’s got to be some kind of medical emergency to happen with her. It’s a tired trope that I don’t like. Karen Zacarias did it with her play Native Gardens, when it opened in 2019. It didn’t work then, and it doesn’t work now. It’s a cheat to defuse the conflict, instead of having the characters face off and genuinely address the problems between them. It’s the theatrical equivalent of a squabbling married couple deciding that having a baby will solve all their problems. It may help at first, but the situations that got them into this conflict in the first place isn’t truly resolved. I’d like to see some more genuine addressing of the conflict that doesn’t require a medical emergency to a pregnant woman to remedy.

            I love Tatiana Kahvegian’s scenic design. Irish Rep’s stage is small, which makes the set feel full, but the details are fantastic, from the detailed brickwork of the farmhouse to the functioning pitcher to the bottles and cups upstage. Even the board games under the coffee table, though never opened during the play, add character to the environment. Kat C. Zhou and Caroline Eng add to the atmosphere with their lighting and sound designs respectively as most of the play takes place during a rainstorm.

(Production photo by Carol Rosegg.)

            For the first hour and 15 to 30 minutes or so of The Loved Ones, I was totally invested. I enjoyed the premise, the characters were dynamic, engaging, and easy to empathize with. They still are for the rest of the play, but I wish Murray had stuck the landing in helping these exciting characters, performed marvelously by the quartet of actresses, get a more satisfying conclusion.

TICKETS: www.irishrep.org

PRODUCTION

Written by Erica Murray; Directed by Nicola Murphy Dubey; Scenic Design: Tatiana Kahvegian; Costume Design: Orla Long; Lighting Design: Kat C. Zhou; Sound Design: Caroline Eng; Properties: Emmarose Campbell; Fight Director: Rick Sordelet; Dialects: Barbara Rubin; Production Stage Manager: Mary Garrigan; Assistant Stage manager: Mikki Monfalcone; Associate Director: Bailey Bass; Assistant Scenic Design: Micaela Bottari; Assistant Costume Design: MJ Stone; Casting Katja Zarolinski, CSA; Press Representative: Print Shop PR; Managing Director: Lisa Fane

CAST

Alana Raquel Bowers as Gabby

Donna Lynne Champlin as Cheryl-Ann

Clare O’Malley as Orla

Maryann Plunkett as Nell