Review: Suspenseful New Drama THE HONEY TRAP at Boston Playwrights' Theatre

The Honey Trap

A Boston University New Play Initiative production by Leo McGann, Directed by Adam Kassim; Scenic Design, Jeffrey Petersen; Lighting Design, Evey Connerty-Marin; Sound Design, J Jumbelic; Costume Design, Stephanie K. Brownell; Dramaturgy, Kira Rockwell; Stage Manager, Renee E. Yancey; Dialect Coach, Christine Hamel

CAST: Barlow Adamson, Maureen Keiller, Maggie Markham, Grace Georgiadis, Conrad Sundqvist-Olmos, Ben Swimmer, Sarah Whelan

Performances through February 26 at Boston Playwrights' Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA; Box Office 866-811-4111 or www.BostonPlaywrights.org

The Honey Trap at Boston Playwrights' Theatre is a new play that does not feel like a new play. It has a complex structure, a plot that takes place in two time periods and two countries, and a pair of characters who are each played by two different actors as their younger and older selves. With all of those moving parts, it could be a confusing jumble, but Belfast native Leo McGann, in his final year of the Boston University M.F.A. Playwriting Program, has crafted a ready-for-prime-time taut, suspenseful drama, in close collaboration with Director Adam Kassim.

The play opens in Boston in 2014 with Emily (Grace Georgiadis), a student, interviewing Dave (Barlow Adamson), a British military veteran, for an oral history project about experiences during the Troubles of Northern Ireland. As he recounts his memories, the action flashes back to Belfast in 1979, where we meet young Dave (Conrad Sundqvist-Olmos) and his buddy Bobby (Ben Swimmer), British soldiers spending their off-duty hours in a pub. Although both are married, they pursue what seems like a harmless flirtation with two local "birds," hoping to shag them before the night is out. After too many drinks and a call home that upsets him, Dave decides to head back to the barracks, leaving Bobby and the women to party on. As the play progresses, McGann shows what transpired later through a series of flashbacks, portions of Dave's testimony to Emily, and information shared by an unlikely source.

In order to maintain the suspense of the twists and turns that McGann maps as part of Dave's journey to rectify his traumatic past, that's the extent of the synopsis you'll get from me. It shouldn't spoil anything to let on that we accompany Dave to modern day Belfast in the second act, a place that is vastly different from his days there as a soldier fighting the IRA. However, regardless of its changed appearance, lingering pain and bitterness have not been eradicated in the two decades since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, nor have Dave's psychic wounds healed. One way or the other, he will get closure on this trip.

The cast is anchored by Boston theater veterans Adamson and Maureen Keiller (Sonia) in key roles. He inhabits his character, digging into the nooks and crannies of Dave's troubled persona. During the interview with Emily, (smartly played by Georgiadis) Dave runs the gamut from placid to aggressive, forthcoming to secretive, and Adamson smoothly shifts into each behavior without grinding any gears. In his scenes with Keiller, they pair beautifully as they banter and flirt, and she does a great job of camouflaging Sonia's intentions under the cover of emotions that may or may not be genuine. Just when you think you've got her number, Keiller scrambles the digits in the blink of an eye.

Adamson and Keiller are both pros and never let us see them "acting," but a quartet of B.U. students fulfill the requirements of their youthful counterparts admirably. Sundqvist-Olmos is a good match to play the younger Dave, sharing a similar physical presence with Adamson. He is energetic and grabs attention, while Swimmer is likable as the eager-to-please Bobby. Maggie Markham (Lisa) and Sarah Whelan (Kirsty) are credible as the flirty, seductive barflies. Except for Emily, an American, all of the cast employ accents (British, Geordie, Irish) with varying degrees of clarity and consistency. In a talkback on opening night, Director Kassim addressed the topic of the accents and emphasized the importance of showing that the characters come from diverse places.

Scenic designer Jeffrey Petersen and lighting designer Evey Connerty-Marin combine their skills to create the dual worlds of the play. Moving back and forth between modern day and flashbacks, as well as scenes taking place in several settings, they use a sliding metal curtain to divide the stage front to back, and there are a couple of areas on a second tier above the main stage. By rearranging some furniture, opening or closing the curtain, and a variety of lighting changes, they are able to make us feel that we are in the pub, the barracks, and the interview room. Sound design (J Jumbelic) and costume design (Stephanie K. Brownell) augment the atmosphere.

In addition to feeling well-formed, The Honey Trap has a universality that broadens its appeal. Granted, it is set in Boston and Belfast, and its plot arises out of an event during the Troubles in Ireland, but it is the troubles of Dave that provide the dramatic conflict. In that sense, he is the everyman (woman) whose guilt from a past event haunts him and consumes his life, until he arrives at a turning point. When faced with an opportunity to rectify the situation, what is the best course of action? The choice may be life-changing, and that decision is not easily made.

Photo credit: Kalman Zabarsky (Maureen Keiller, Barlow Adamson)

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