NEW YORK—Presenting at the DR2 Theatre while its home base on 22nd St. is undergoing renovation, the Irish Repertory Theatre is presenting a revival of Conor McPherson’s 2001 Port Authority. Set in present-day Dublin, the play is ageless, featuring as it does three average Dublin men.
The men of varying ages, young, middle-aged, and elderly, sit on a long, dull bench, such as is placed in any sort of public waiting room. They pay no attention to each other, and it is apparent that they do not know one another.
One by one, they go downstage and directly address the audience, telling a small portion of their life stories at a time. There is nothing earth-shattering in any of it—just that certain fragments are sure to strike a note in some of us, at certain times.
The youngest, Kevin (James Russell), is apparently in his 20s. He has recently left his parental home to strike out on his own against his father’s better judgment. But Kevin is determined to show his dad that he can make it.
Kevin takes a room in the outskirts of Dublin, sharing the place with another young man and a young woman. This young woman has a boyfriend. Of course, she will later go off with that boyfriend. But things in life have a way of not going the way they’re expected to.
Dermot (Billy Carter), fortyish, has recently gotten himself a good job, even though his interview was sparse. However, his boss seems well pleased with him, so much so that he invites Dermot to Los Angeles with a group of senior employees for an important business event. As luck or fate would have it, Dermot’s anxiety gets the better of him.
Even at the outset Dermot had sensed that he wouldn’t fit in and somehow knew that failure was imminent. However, there was always his loving wife back in Dublin to support him. But returning home, his very attractive wife, who could have gotten anybody but chose him, shatters him with an unpleasant truth.
The elderly Joe (Peter Maloney, a classic Irishman), who lives in a nursing home, is quiet and laid-back. He speaks of his wife, who is now deceased. Then someone hands him an envelope, which contains something more than a letter. He chooses not to open it until later.
The incident is a bit of a cliff-hanger, and one wants to know more. Joe will ultimately tell us. And it is heartbreaking when he does. The content of the envelope startles him, and he implies that perhaps he had made a wrong choice earlier in life.
The force of “Port Authority” lies in the building up in increments the little incidents, the feelings, and emotions of these men. Their stories are personal and individual, yet reach out to the universal.
Permeating the whole performance is a sense of loss, of not making the most of things, of wrong choices, of lost opportunities.
Under Ciaran O'Reilly’s sensitive and perceptive direction, the show makes a powerful impression, leaving, perhaps, a sense of the bittersweet.
Billy Carter, Peter Maloney, and James Russell richly convey the quality of these characters who are, in a sense, Everyman.
‘Port Authority’
DR2 Theatre
103 E. 15th St.
Running Time: 1 hour, 35 minutes
Tickets: 212-727-2737 or irishrep.org
Closes: Nov. 16
Diana Barth publishes New Millennium, an arts publication. For information, see diabarth.com.
