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Playhouse Tulsa's "Shining City"
Published: 3/16/2011 11:57 PM
Last Modified: 3/16/2011 11:57 PM

It doesn’t matter if the ghost you see – or think you see – is real or just the figment of an overstressed, hyper-sensitive imagination.
“What it does to you,” one of the characters in “Shining City” says to another, “that’s the reality.”
In this case, the reality is that Conor MacPherson’s “Shining City” is one brilliantly unnerving and fascinatingly enigmatic play about faith and fear, God and ghosts and the uniquely Irish ability to spin a captivating, multi-layered tale.
And what it does … well, let me put it this way: It’s been a very, very long time since a show of any kind has sent literal chills down my spine. But that’s reaction Playhouse Tulsa’s production, which opened Wednesday at the Tulsa PAC, produced – at least in this member of the audience.
“Shining City” is a series of five conversations, between Ian (Chris Crawford) and three visitors to the office he has just set up in what is apparently one of the less respectable addresses in Dublin.
We learn that Ian was once a priest, but now is trying to establish himself as a therapist, which is how Ian encounters John (Cody Daigle). John is going through a bad patch – his wife died two months ago, the only fatality in a freakish yet horrific automobile accident.
But the reason John has sought out help is because his wife Mary is back – lurking behind one door or pounding on another to be let in.
It’s a situation that has driven John out of his home, taking up residence in a near-by bed and breakfast where he just knows the landlady thinks he’s some kind of loony. But John is convinced of what – and of whom – he saw.
“You believe me?” he asks of Ian. A good question, because what Ian believes is really the story being told in “Shining City.”
He left the priesthood for Neasa (Brittany Wilson), who later bore him a daughter. But now Ian isn’t certain that life with her is something he can handle. Nor can he quite bring himself to the sort of relationship that Laurence (Jonathan Schrader), a fellow he met in a park, might offer.
Two exceptional performances by Crawford and Daigle underpin this production. Daigle has a pair of extended monologues, as John describes his life and some of the ways things have gone wrong, that he handles masterfully, letting them unfold in a way that perfectly natural, never showy, the emotional shadings – whether it be sorrow, fear, anger, resignation, even happiness – resonant and real.
Crawford’s Ian is a man so trapped by his own uncertainties, so bent on doing “the right thing” even if he isn’t quite sure what that right thing is, that he can barely finish a sentence. The nervous stops and starts of his conversation, the tightly wound posture, even when he’s trying to appear relaxed, all add bits of information about this character, and Crawford does an excellent job of making this tormented and fragmented character a touchingly real human being.
Schrader is fine as the van driver looking to make a little money on the side. Wilson has the emotional points of her character down well, although her Irish accent was at once more studied and more inconsistent than those of her fellow cast members.
Shawn Irish designed the set, as an office furnished in “early desperation.”
“Shining City” is part of Playhouse Tulsa’s “Irish Repertory” weekend, performed along with Mark O’Rowe’s “Howie the Rookie.” “Shining City” performances are 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday. “Howie the Rookie” performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 2 p.m. Saturday. For tickets: 596-7111, tulsworld.com/mytix.



Reader Comments 1 Total
Jayhawk Ken (last year)
I have struggled for more than 24 hours now to find the words to describe what I experienced through the remarkable "Shining City" Saturday night. My struggle has not been resolved, although I know it will be a long, long time until the memories of this play and these performers fade from my memory.

The chills you referenced, Mr. Watts, were felt by me several times as certain observations and remarks struck familiar chords. But I suspect you meant to describe one unforgettable moment that, for me at least, produced a gasp of shock rather than chills.

I am such a fan of Playhouse Tulsa. They bring unfamiliar material and make it endearing and, sometimes, scorching. They also bring familiar material and innovate to reveal facets never studied or considered. And they do it with a sharp eye for casting actors who command our emotions with their skills.

Thank you for letting your own enthusiasm for this sort of excellence bubble and persuade others to take a taste.
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ARTS

James D. Watts Jr. has lived in Oklahoma for most his life, even though he still has people saying to him, "Don't sound like you're from around these parts." A University of Oklahoma Phi Beta Kappa graduate, Watts has received the Governor Arts Award, Harwelden Award and the National Conference of Christians and Jews Beth Macklin Award for his writing. Before coming to the Tulsa World, Watts worked for the Tulsa Tribune.

Contact him at (918) 581-8478.

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