‘The Seafarer’ is a card game to remember

‘ ‘ ‘ Every Christmas gathering may include an unwanted guest or two. For most families this is… ‘ ‘ ‘ Every Christmas gathering may include an unwanted guest or two. For most families this is probably an embarrassing cousin or nagging grandparent. For the Harkin family, it’s the devil himself. And Lucifer cannot be placated with eggnog: He wants souls. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘The Seafarer’ tells the story of recovering alcoholic James ‘Sharkey’ Harkin’s return home to care for his blind, hard-drinking brother Richard Harkin over the holidays. The brothers, played in City Theatre’s production by Christopher Donahue and Noble Shropshire respectively, are celebrating Christmas Eve with a spirits-fueled poker game with friends when they are joined by a mysterious stranger who raises the stakes far higher than the Harkins intended. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘There’s a real element of theatricality. I always look at a play for something that makes it need to be a play, as opposed to some other medium like a novel or a film. ‘The Seafarer’ is very theatrical. It’s just kind of riveting,’ said Tracy Brigden, the artistic director of City Theatre. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘It’s always kind of hard to articulate what viscerally drives you to a play. What’s usually most important for me is a really juicy story, which ‘The Seafarer’ absolutely has. It follows a really great tradition of Irish storytelling, just a great yarn,’ said Brigden about her choice of the production. ‘ ‘ ‘ The play takes place in Baldoyle, a coastal suburb of playwright Conor McPherson’s hometown, Dublin, Ireland. The play is steeped in traditional Irish vernacular, posing some challenges in understandability for an American audience.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘There are all these unique turns of phrase and malapropisms. The actors all have Irish brogues, but hopefully not so thick that nobody understands what they’re saying,’ said Brigden. ‘ ‘ ‘ In both place and time, the play’s setting seems to have little relation to Pittsburgh in January, but Brigden feels that at its heart ‘The Seafarer’ is not a Christmas play, and could be appropriate for any season or location. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I think it’s a pretty universal play. Not just in that there are these issues of brothers and family everywhere, but in the more profound aspects,’ said Brigden. ‘What is hell? What is heaven? Is redemption possible?’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Philosophical questions for pondering year-round.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Watching a card game you aren’t playing can be boring, and a card game on stage even more so. Getting the suspense of the high stakes game to come across to the audience was not without difficulties. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘For the actors it’s a little like walking and chewing gum at the same time. Obviously they have to know all the dialogue, lots of poker related lines that have to be in sequence and exact, plus actually deal with the cards and the drinks and maintain their accents and the drama,’ said Brigden. ‘ ‘ ‘ Three separate hands of cards are played throughout the course of the play, giving rise to the fear that an actor might confuse a line from one hand with another and have disastrous consequences. ‘ ‘ ‘ Asking a director to choose a favorite part of a production can be a like asking a parent to choose a favorite child. Least favorite parts, however, are not so difficult for Brigden. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I absolutely have least favorite parts of the play that just don’t seem to work in the run-through, but sometimes the parts that you think ‘Oh no that’s terrible, it’s not working,’ those are the parts that end up being the best parts in play.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ City Theatre’s production will be the play’s regional premiere. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘The Seafarer’ premiered in 2006 at London’s National Theatre, earning a nomination for an Olivier Award for Best Play. The play’s Broadway run from Dec. 2007 to March 2008 garnered four Tony Award nominations, including Best Play and Best Director, and won in the category of Best Featured Actor.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘It’s clever, it’s a little edgy. There’s nothing in this play that’s commercial and spoon fed to you, you have to pay attention and keep up. It’s a smart play and Pittsburgh has pretty smart theater audiences who I think will really like it,’ said Brigden.