Silent, now playing at the Irish Arts Center, is a one man show
exploring the life of Tino McGoldrig.
Written and performed by Pat Kinevane, it has a unique tone, wistful and
lyrical where many would be self-pitying. Silent comes to New York with excellent
notices and awards, and proves quickly it deserves the advanced press.
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Tino is short for Valentino, his father being a great fan
of film icon Rudolph Valentino. This
tie to old silent movies gives life to Tino’s storytelling. He speaks not only verbally but
physically. The character often loses
himself in the language of movement – so integral to the old silents. Tino is wildly expressive and in moments it seems only movement can give voice to his thoughts and demons.
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| Pat Kinevane as Tino McGoldrig |
With this ability, Pat Kinevane breathes a unique life into
the character of Tino McGoldrig; giving him the ability to engage the audience
on multiple emotional levels.
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Silent is, at least in part, an explanation of how Tino had,
and then lost, the middle class life.
Central to the story is Pearse, Tino’s brother, a gay young man who was
bullied by the boys at school and, more cruelly, his own mother. Mr. Kinevane inhabits the character of “mother”
with no mercy. If there were reasons for
the mother’s mistreatment of Pearse, we don’t see them. If this were a play about Pearse, this would be a problem. But because we are looking at mother through Tino's eyes it is an explanation.
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Pearse’s later suicide weighs on Tino, ruining his
relationship with his mother and leaving him progressively more guilt
ridden. He finds solace in the bottle,
which corrodes his marriage. Or does
marriage drive him to drink? Or does he
just drink? Whatever he cause, the slide
ultimately leads to a mental breakdown.
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Questions arise and then hang in the air, but the character dances among them. He chooses to answer
some. The others he sidesteps in flights
of memory and snippets of Silent movies played in his head and acted out on
stage. Mr. Kinevane’s Tino looks, at
first glance, like any homeless person you might see, albeit a little cleaner. But when the light tightens onto his face and
his expressive eyes, Tino is transformed into a performer on the silver
screen. The grime and tattered clothes
fade away, and Tino grows in the darkness.
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Silent is a terrific piece of
theater. The direction, by Jim Culleton,
is more leisurely paced than a current audience might expect or be comfortable
with. It is more paced at the speed of old
silent movies, quick action but lingered reaction. It is supported by wonderful lighting design,
created jointly by the Director and the Writer/Actor. To watch Silent is to step into Tino’s world
and be entranced.
Silent
Playwright: Pat Kinevane
Director: Jim Culleton
Cast: Pat Kinevane
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