Irish Repertory Theatre recently presented “Aristocrats,” a very powerful production where the audience got to meet the O’Donnell family living in County Donegal in Ireland. The family has gathered at the decaying estate for the wedding of their youngest daughter Claire. This is a clan that has come from generations of money, but this wealth has dried up. The father is old, very ill, angry and verbally abusive to his four children—Judith, Alice, Claire and Casimir—who all bear the emotional scars of being raised in a very emotionally cold environment. Their mother is always depressed and everyone in this family has mental health issues. Judith takes care of their father and the family’s financial affairs and youngest Claire has low self-esteem and is about to enter into a marriage with an elderly widower with four children.
Alice, an alcoholic, comes with her husband Eamon; theirs is also an abusive marriage. Casimir is a young man who never stops talking, but is only capable of telling fantasy stories as reality.
The family’s history is being documented by a Black writer, Tom Huffnung, who is doing research on aristocratic families and how they affected the political, social and economic lives of the people they ruled over. We get to know the family’s sad tale through their conversations with Tom and each other. This play let the audience see that having money definitely does not translate to happiness. In fact, in this family’s case, growing up as aristocrats was nothing less than horrible. This play truly let the audience know that there is a great deal of dysfunction in these wealthy settings. Not one member of this family is left whole or lives a “normal” life.
Irish playwright Brian Friel delivered a poignant play that leaves you thinking about what is really happening behind the scenes of wealth and power. “Aristocrats” was enthralling theater.
There were so many layers in this play and the audience was constantly captivated as the characters revealed unrequited love and jealousy that existed for years. The cast was absolutely astonishing. Roger Dominic Casey was quite engaging as Tom, a Black man trying to research the aristocracy, but who finds himself feeling the hostility of those he’s trying to question; he also has to deal with the fact that in trying to gather historic facts about this family, he is being told pure lies. He witnesses how dysfunctional this family truly is. Casey performed the role to perfection!
Meg Hennessy was a vulnerable, delicate, confused, damaged and desperate person as Claire. You could feel all the emotional highs and lows her character experienced. Tom Holcomb was absolutely captivating as Casimir. His nervous energy and ability to just jump into fantasy stories of his family’s famous acquaintances had everyone riveted. Holcomb definitely played this character in an on-the-edge way that made you realize his sadness, vulnerability and trauma. Danielle Ryan gave a powerful performance as Judith, the daughter that was saddled with the responsibilities of taking care of an ailing, mean, dying father and all the bills. Sarah Street was fascinating as Alice and played the character with such grit and rawness you could see why she drank so much and stayed in an abusive marriage.
Tim Ruddy was phenomenal as Eamon. His character was the commoner that married into an aristocratic family and he poignantly lets the audience know that this was anything but a fairytale. Shane McNaughton was wonderful as Willie Diver, the driver and Judith’s emotional support. Colin Lane gave quite a riveting performance as both Uncle George/Father. When he came on stage, though he barely spoke, he grabbed everyone’s attention.
This incredible production had stunning direction by Charlotte Moore. On the technical side everything flowed beautifully with scenic design by Charlie Corcoran, costume design by David Toser, lighting design by Michael Gottlieb and sound design and original music by Ryan Rumery and M. Florian Staab. Irish Repertory Theatre is located at 132 W 22nd Street.
