Noted Irish theatre critic Fintan O'Toole has written, "More than a half century after his death, William Butler Yeats is still Ireland's foremost avant-garde playwright."
Apparently the powers-that-be at the Irish Repertory Theater are in complete agreement. Charlotte Moore, artistic director, and Ciaran O'Reilly, producing director, have concocted a stunning series, entitled, The Yeats Project, currently presenting in repertory all 26 plays written by Yeats. Two series or cycles consist of a total of eight fully staged one-act plays on the main stage, with the remainder of Yeats' beautiful poetic one-acts receiving concert readings in the Rep's downstairs Studio Theater. There are other events that I will mention later.
In Series A, in The Countess Cathleen, Yeats' first published play, the eponymous countess (Terry Donnelly) is beset by a famine throughout her territory. Her peasant tenants are distraught for they will literally starve to death unless some remedy is found. In the hut of Shemus Rua (Sean Gormley), wife Oona (Fiana Toibin) and son Teigue (Justin Stoney), Shemus expresses desperation. But then the family is visited by two strangers, Merchant A (Patrick Fitzgerald) and Merchant B (Kevin Collins), who offer them anything they may need - providing the family will barter their souls. These "merchants" are obviously not what they seem. Oona fears them and feels they "do not leave their shadow." All the tenants throughout the area offer to barter their souls, until finally the Countess Cathleen offers up her own soul in exchange for those of her tenants. She dies, having saved everyone else.
In The Cat and the Moon, a Blind Beggar and a Lame Beggar vie with one another as to which is more important - for the blind man to see, or for the lame man to have his soul. The play projects both humor and insight.
On Baile's Strand is an intense story based on old Celtic myth, with two great kings: Cuchulain (Kevin Collins) and Conchubar (Peter Cormican) vying for power. In the end, Cuchulain's son, called here Young Man (Justin Stoney), meets a tragic fate through his father's ignorance and arrogance. The setting itself inspires awe. The program note states: "The Great Hall of Dundealgan on the sea at a remote time."
Needless to say, on the Rep's small stage it is best to hint, to imply grandeur. Set designer Charles Corcoran rises to the occasion. In one play the boiling sea is effectively projected against the stage walls, courtesy of projection designer Jan Hartley. Costumes by David Toser likewise are subtle and simple.
Under Charlotte Moore's sensitive direction, the actors inhabit their roles with the utmost seriousness and skill. Taking highest honors are Terry Donnelly for her rich understanding of the role of the Countess Cathleen, Patrick Fitzgerald for his sly and nimble Merchant A and Peter Cormican for his powerful King Conchubar. Others in the cast include Amanda Quaid, William J. Ward and Amanda Sprecher.
