Shining City

In starting off a month focused on Ireland ... this play is surprisinly un-Irish, lacking a distinctly Irish tone and setting. We could easily be in New York, San Francisco, or Toronto ... and that's certainly part of the point Conor McPherson's making in Shining City: as Ireland joins the European Union and skyscrapers spring up throughout Dublin, Ireland isn't so Irish anymore. Ian's left the priesthood and John's left his home, and neither are doing well in their new status quo.

It's a topsy-turvy play in many ways, and each scene forced me to re-evaluate what this play actually was:

• Scene 1: Psychotherapist (Ian) and patient (John). Scene is driven driven by the patient, who appears to be the protagonist.
  
• Scene 2: Ian and his estranged girlfriend/baby mama. So it's Ian's story. Or it's both?
  
• Scene 3: Ian and John in session, again. John monologues for about 20 minutes with only the barest of prompts from Ian. The possibility of dual protagonists seems to fall away, and it's John's play again.
  
• Scene 4: Ian and a male prostitute. So what happened to John's story?
  
• Scene 5: Ian and John again, but we're left at the close of the play focusing on Ian.
  

It's not so much a case of dual protagonists, but dueling protagonists ... as in banjos. They are exchanging leads and arcs and revelations, but not at the same time. Ian's development all takes place when John's offstage, and John develops through the true "talking cure" and all Ian really does is listen. The play is soaked in theme, and this duet between the lead characters allows them to reflect on each other. Both these men are ultimately haunted and damned by their desire for what's just out of reach, an illusion of a better life.

There's some wonderful naturalistic dialogue here, and some great meat for two actors to chew on ... but it never adds up conceptually. Although I feel an overwhelming sense of theme hanging over the prosaic action, I can't articulate anything beyond wispy strands. There's a shock ending that seem like it should point clearly to the central concept, but doesn't point very clearly. I wonder if we're all meant to nod our head and say "ahhhhh" the the obvious deep themes that we assume everyone else in the room obviously gets. McPherson has an incredible ear, and I'd like to read some other work that might feature more of his clear observations of modern Ireland without the overwhelming weight of pretension this play carries around.