Review: THE DEALER OF BALLYNAFEIGH at Keegan Theatre

The Women's Voices Theater Festival has brought together more than 50 of DC's regional professional theaters to highlight the work of women playwrights. It's exciting to see this enormous cross section of the work of female writers showcased, at a time when Broadway fails to lift up their work appropriately.

Last year, you may recall that women writers won the best score and book Tony Awards, but the country didn't really know about it, as the Tonys chose to cut that award from the live broadcast. Overall, women's contributions are sorely undervalued in the theatre community, so I'm grateful that this new venue has been launched.

One of the contributions to the festival is The Keegan Theatre's THE DEALER OF BALLYNAFEIGH, a new dark comedy/farce from Rosemary Jenkinson, and directed by Abigail Isaac Fine.

An interesting scenic design from Robbie Hayes, allowed the space to move effectively from location to location.

The 80-minute play is set in Ballynafeigh, a borough in the southern part of Belfast where sectarianism is rife. Paramilitary groups have switched from being political organizations to running organized crime rings. Loyalists, as well as those wanting separation from British rule are among these organizations.

We open on an interrogation/beating of an apparent drug dealer named Jackie (Michael Kozemchak), by Billy (Peter Finnegan) and his Ma (Jane Petkofsky). This dealer has apparently sold some bad ecstasy which put a crime boss' neice in a coma. Ma winds up accidentally murdering said dealer, there is shouting, shooting, and sheer idiocy on behalf of the fairly stock characters.

As we move forward, we discover that pretty much everyone in the play, including the crime boss, Mackers (John Strange), another dealer named Gourley (Bradley Foster Smith), as well as Ma and Billy, are all "dealers," meaning they're all the title character. Hijinks ensue, as happens in an Irish farce, a whole lot of people are shot, drugs fly everywhere, money is laundered (literally), and one person is left standing (and another limping).

I'm a fan of farce generally, everything from Neil Simon to Martin McDonagh to Moliere. What farce needs however, more than anything else, is consistency, and a dedication to the story, as opposed to the bits. I was truly surprised at the lack of any danger in a play where so many people get shot. It felt at times that we were constantly waiting for the next prat fall, the next gunshot or the next drug-addled tantrum.

While the story is interesting, it's unfortunately too thin to carry the level of commitment needed to inspire such drastic actions taking place onstage. I never felt like I was pulling for anyone to succeed in their individual goals. It wasn't just that no one was really likeable (a common theme in black comedy and farce), it was that their goals never seemed particularly important to them. The exception to this was Smith's Gourley. His dedication to what he needed to accomplish was simply palpable and I found myself waiting for his return every time he left stage.

I found the story was sometimes muddy (though admittedly, it took a while to adjust to the frequently uneven and inconsistent dialects). And as I'd mentioned, the story really needs to be clear and present so that we not only follow, but care about what's going on. Unfortunately, the stakes were never really that high and I wasn't buying what this dealer was selling.

I was especially surprised considering Keegan's excellent production of DOGFIGHT recently, that this particular production wasn't of higher caliber. But always happy that new and lesser-known works are being presented.

THE DEALER OF BALLYNAFEIGH runs at The Keegan Theatre through November 14th and tickets may be purchased at www.keegantheatre.com

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