Charolais is a rare thing, a
whip-smart play masquerading a simple story. Sweetly written and performed by
Noni Stapleton, Charolais is
the tale of a love triangle – or maybe more than one triangle.
Noni Stapleton
plays Siobhan, a big hearted Irish lass who is employed to help with the administrative side of a family farm. The
farm is run by a strapping son and his embittered mother. Siobhan falls for the
son, Jimmy, after watching him wrangle a cow out of a muddy field. And, oh, how
she would like to be that cow... wrapped in Jimmy’s strong arms being gently
rocked back and forth until free.
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| Noni Stapleton in CHAROLAIS at 59E59 Theaters. Photo by Hunter Canning |
Jimmy and
Siobhan, thrown together in work, are soon enough together in the biblical
sense as well. And, good Irish folk that they are, not long after Siobhan is with child, albeit
without husband. Yet. Siobhan imagines a future of happy farm family, but two
things stand in her way. The most formidable is Jimmy’s mother. Jimmy’s mum is
not generally receptive to Siobhan in the best of times, and Jimmy is worried
how she will react to Siobhan’s news.
Less obviously formidable,
but with a greater hold on Jimmy’s heart is the beautiful Charolais cow. Jimmy has a devotion to that cow that
frustrates and later infuriates Siobhan. It is a nearly unbreakable bond, so
what is Siobhan supposed to do?
Telling more might
ruin the story of Charolais,
and the story is pitch perfect with a few surprises left. How much of this
terrific play and pacing is director / developer Bairbre Ni Chaoimh’s work and
how much is Noni Stapleton’s is hard to judge. But it is easy to judge that the final project
is impressive in humor, scope and heart .
Charolais | Playwright: Noni Stapleton
| Director: Baribre Ni Chaoimh | Cast:
Noni Stapleton |website
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