Review: Irish Family Drama MOMENT Simmers and Explodes at Studio Theatre

Spring 2016 seems to be a celebration of the best of Irish music, dance, and theatre here in the nation's capital. Perhaps as a pre-taste of what's to come in May during the Kennedy Center's "Ireland 100" festival, Studio Theatre is giving notice to one of Ireland's most celebrated contemporary playwrights with its current mainstage production. Deirdre Kinahan's family drama MOMENT has had several productions to date, including here in the United States, but Studio's production marks the DC premiere. An excellent cast, a well-structured script, and an engaging story make MOMENT one of the strongest theatrical experiences I've had this season.

Set in the suburbs of Dublin, we first meet the obviously very moody Niamh (Emily Landham). She's stopped by her ailing mother Teresa's (Dearbhla Molloy) house out of concern because Teresa didn't answer the telephone. This brief stop-by to the modest dwelling (meticulously designed by Debra Booth) turns into an undesired opportunity to revisit the family's dark past. Teresa announces that the Lynch's prodigal son Nial (Peter Albrink) will be spending the night and, what's more, he will be bringing home a girl. This news sets Niamh on edge, especially because she will need to spend the night at her mother's as well due to plumbing work at her own flat. At this point we don't know why she doesn't want to see Nial, but it's clear the two are at odds and have been for some time.

When Nial arrives, Niam, Teresa, Niamh's good-natured sister Ciara (Caroline Bootle Pendergast) and her husband Dave (Ciaran Byrne, a master at comedic relief) unexpectedly reunite all under one roof, joined by Niamh's friend Fin (Avery Clark), and Ruth (Hannah Yelland), the well-mannered English girl in Nial's life. Things start off politely, if not somewhat awkwardly. They quickly escalate when the conversation veers toward a particularly earth shattering moment in the family's past.

We learn that as a young man Nial committed a crime against Niamh's little friend, Hillary (the spunky Mira Cohen in a series of flashbacks generated from Niamh's memory). While Nial has moved on and established a life as a well-regarded abstract artist in Cork, the family - and especially Niamh and Teresa - are haunted by what he did and the aftermath. As a result of his brief return to the Dublin area, he and the family are forced to confront the terrible memories and identify what's true and not true about them, as innocent bystanders like Finn observe the explosive behavior. Forgiveness and moving on, it seems, is easier said than done. That dark moment, and the secondary ones that followed, has undeniably shaped the family dynamics as well as the individual paths that everyone took since that time.

There are definitely elements of Kinahan's script that are similar to other intense family dramas. The equally strong AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY comes to mind especially as Teresa discusses her husband's death, but there are others. Yet, Kinahan is so gifted at crafting fully-fleshed out characters and realistic situations that it's difficult to bin MOMENT as yet another one of "those" plays about dysfunctional families. In his Studio Theatre debut, Ethan McSweeny (best known to Washington audiences for his work at Shakespeare Theatre Company) directs a group of uniformly talented actors who give life to the story in a way that allows the underlying tension build slowly, but deliberately and realistically.

Molloy, Landham, and Pendergast make for a believable family unit that includes a mother who means well but is unable cope with the past, and two daughters who stand ready to deal with every issue that arises as a result of her condition. Landham and Pendergast also stand in contrast to one another in a way that serves the story particularly well, especially in terms of the sisters' reactions to Nial's return and their mother's frail state (Philip Witcomb's costumes also play up the sisters' personality contrast as well). Albrink's Nial is deeply complex - informed by the young man's troubled past and his desire to move forward with his new wife Ruth. Nial's inner struggle also shapes how he interacts with his family during his brief stay in the Dublin area and Ruth as she explains why she wanted to meet Nial's family.

Technical elements, especially Palmer Hefferan's sound design, embrace and enhance the tumultuous emotional undertones in Kinahan's script. All of the cast members are also have a good to excellent command of the Irish (and in one case English) dialect, which enhances the believability aspect.

This is a production that will stay with you long after the performance ends.

Running Time: 2 hours, including one intermission.

MOMENT currently plays at Studio Theatre - 1501 14th Street NW in Washington, DC - through April 24. For tickets, call the box office at 202-332-3300 or purchase them online.

Credit: Avery Clark, Dearbhla Molloy, Emily Landham, Caroline Bootle Pendergast, Peter Albrink, and Hannah Yelland in MOMENT at Studio Theatre. Photo by Igor Dmitry.

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