Irish Redemption In The Eyes of a Ugandan Child

Who’s Your Daddy? follows a  rich tradition of Irish storytelling in theater.  The storyteller in this case is Johnny O’Callagahan playing with the tradition in some interesting ways.

Johnny’s story concerns his last minute trip to Uganda with a friend, a trip taken more out of boredom than anything else.  His friend, a Hollywood acquaintance armed with little more than a camera, a dream of a documentary and an inflated sense of self-importance, was on a mission to an orphanage near the Congo / Rwanda border.  Johnny relates the trip, and the circumstances that prompted it, in humorous detail.

Johnny O'Callagahan in Who's Your Daddy at The Irish Repertory Theatre

Once there, Johnny was stunned by the conditions, but his story isn’t one of a sudden transformation into Florence Nightingale.  It is a refreshing tale of hope and a boy that brings a sense of wonder back to Johnny’s life.  And Johnny, like anyone who would decide on a whim to go to Africa instead of look for his lost dog, decides to adopt the boy – because, well it was the thing to do.

The process turns out to be much more complicated and extensive than Johnny expects.  And here is where the story delivers to it’s teller, a fork in the road.  Johnny is at the whims of various tribal elders in Uganda and government bureaucrats in the United States.  Johnny O’Callagahan’s journey through the labyrinth of laws and customs will require a determination and perseverance than he has never shown in the past.  It is full of false promises, dead ends and well meaning people deciding that a single man in Hollywood might not be the best guardian for a young Ugandan boy.  And Johnny has proven, so far, to be less than dedicated to a cause.

Who’s Your Daddy? is a great story, told with wit and energy that is not normally associated with the stereotypical Sad Irish Tale.  Mr. O’Callagahan forsakes the dark stage and single spot that normally comes with these stories as well, preferring a stage with various places to perch and lean and pace.  He (and Director Tom Ormeny) give physical immediacy to emotional rollercoaster this experience prompted.

It is a tale not to be missed.

Who’s Your Daddy?

Playwright: Johnny O’Callagahan

Director: Tom Ormeny

Cast: Johnny O’Callagahan

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Upcoming: The Freedom Of The City

Off-Broadway's Irish Repertory Theatre launches its 25th Anniversary Season with Brian Friel's THE FREEDOM OF THE CITY – with previews set to begin October 3, prior to an official press opening October 14 on the Irish Repertory's Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage (132 West 22nd Street). Performances are set to run through November 25. Ciarán O'Reilly directs.

Director Ciarán O'Reilly helmed the company's recent productions of Eugene O'Neill's BEYOND THE HORIZON and THE EMPEROR JONES (Joseph A Callaway Award winner for Direction; Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, Drama League, and Audelco nominations). As an actor, he co-starred in Irish Repertory's 2011 revivals of Brian Friel's DANCING AT LUGHNASA and MOLLY SWEENEY.

Set in Derry, Northern Ireland during the aftermath of a civil rights meeting, THE FREEDOM OF THE CITY revolves around an inquiry into the shooting by British soldiers of three marchers as they emerged from the Guildhall. As the inquiry continues, with testimony from 'expert' witnesses, the play relives the real events that led to its institution. When the police disrupt the peaceful protest, three unarmed strangers, Lily, a middle-aged mother of 11, and Michael and Skinner, two young men, take refuge from the streets and find themselves inexplicably in the Mayor's Parlor. As the three settle in to the Lord Mayor's opulent office, word spreads about the "occupation" of the Guildhall. The motley trio is transformed into a band of armed and desperate terrorists, a fiction that is taken up by the church, the media, the army, and nationalist balladeers, all of whom use the myth for their own diverse ends.

THE FREEDOM OF THE CITY features Cara Seymour (Mike Leigh's ECSTASY and GOOSE-PIMPLES, Noel Coward's PRESENT LAUGHTER) as Lily; Joseph Sikora (THE CAINE MUTINY COURT-MARTIAL, "Boardwalk Empire") as Skinner; and James Russell (CTV's hit series "Comedy Inc.") as Michael; with Ciarán Byrne; Clark Carmichael; Christa Scott-Reed; John C. Vennema (THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN, BELLS ARE RINGING) as Judge; Craig Wroe; and Evan Zes (MAN AND SUPERMAN).

The Irish... and How They Got That Way @ The Irish Rep

“The Irish ..and How They Got That Way” (playing at the Irish Repertory Theater through September 5th ) is a wistful, sentimental and funny journey through traditional Irish Songs and Folklore that will play beautifully for the millions that lovingly watch the St. Patrick’s Day Parades every year. If you fit that bill, this is a beautifully sung and nicely spoken trip of nostalgia that will make your heart ache, your eyes tear up and a lump rise in your throat.
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Seeing the happy faces around me, the lilting accents at intermission and the teary eyes as they expressed their love upon leaving the theater, all of this tells me it is an emotional experience that resonates with the Irish deep in their soul.

Patrick Shields, Ciaran Sheehan, Kerry Conte, Terry Donnelly,Gary Troy and Kevin D. Winebold

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On the other hand, if you aren’t schooled in Irish music and folklore, if you don’t bleed green, this show is a two hour tromp through a litany of anger, sullenness, bitterness and hopelessness.
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The show opens and closes with a cute refrain about how the Irish see music and romance in everyday life – and then proceed to drown out any spark of hope through a forced march of wrongs done to the Irish People through the years. The British get it the worst, starting from an early 1800s satirical piece in “Punch” and moving on with stops at their Empire, their food and their landed class. The Potato Famine then moves the narrative to America, where the show finds blames with the press, the politicians, the employers and the inhabitants of most major cities.
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And the show is not content with only telling the audience how much the Irish were hated, and singing about how much the Irish were hated. The cast reads selected articles and private letters aloud, writings from the 1800s by the very people that hated them the most. Frank McCourt didn’t write this show as much as dig in the archives to find the worst things ever said about the Irish and share them with us, for purposes unfathomable to me.
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The American Civil War forced them to fight brother versus brother, after which the Irish returned to (single handedly) build the transcontinental railroad, pave the streets of New York and dig Eire Canal. Intermission comes as a merciful break.
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In the second half we start with fun vaudeville and Jimmy Cagney, before trudging off to World Wars one and two. It all comes to a close with the assignation of John F Kennedy, before wrapping the show up reminding us that they are a happy people.
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Oddly, the unrelenting tales of woe don’t dampen the enthusiasm the cast brings to the show. The six member ensemble works hard to lift the mood from the dreary stories told. The ensemble of fine voices is nice, but it is the wonderful clear voice of Gary Troy that sells every song he sings.
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The odd directing choices of Charlotte Moore mainly work, unless you were sitting on the side. The Irish Repertory Theater has the main audience seating in front of the stage, but also has a significant amount of seating stage right, and this group was mainly ignored during the show. The staging features the cast primarily sitting on the detritus of travel, old trunks and suitcases, with the story teller or singer standing during their bit. It was interesting for a while, but soon ventured towards the animatronics for me. It seemed like the “The Carousel of Misery” at some depressing version of Disneyland, complete with awkward and forced comic relief.


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The Irish … and How They Got That Way.
Cast: Kerry Conte, Terry Donnelly, Ciaran Sheehan, Patrick Shields, Gary Troy, Kevin B. Winwbold
Director: Charlotte Moore
Writer: Frank McCourt

tickets

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Irish Repertory Theatre, July 22 – September 5, 2010
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Rating: If it sounds interesting to you
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What works: The songs and memories for those of Irish Heritage
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What doesn't work: The songs and memories for those not of Irish Heritage
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What you get to brag about to your friends: Hearing Gary Troy’s majestic voice soar on some well known Irish standards