newjerseynewsroom.com

Lost Irish drama by Teresa Deevy studies an impoverished couple tempted by unexpected wealth

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

OFF BROADWAY REVIEW

A laudable company headed by artistic director Jonathan Bank, Mint Theater discovers worthy plays unseen for several generations and breathes fresh life into the reputation of long-dead authors.

Lately the Mint has been exploring the works of Teresa Deevy, a deaf Irish playwright associated with Ireland’s celebrated Abbey company throughout the 1930s. Last season, the Mint staged Deevy’s 1942 man-on-the-go drama “Wife to James Whelan” (see review here) and next year will produce her best-known play “Katie Roche” (1936).

This season’s Deevy work is “Temporal Powers,” originally produced by the Abbey in 1932, which opened Monday at the Mint’s 99-seat loft theater in midtown.

Set in rural Ireland in the late 1920s, the story centers on Michael and Min Donovan, an impoverished middle-aged couple just evicted from their farm. As the three-act drama opens, they are camping out within a derelict ruin, where Michael discovers a sizable cache of money hidden in a crumbling wall.

Min desperately wants to use the money to restart their lives, but honest, devout Michael chooses to take it to the authorities. His decision causes serious conflict between the couple. Before Michael acts on his resolution, they learn that the money recently was stolen.

Complications arise when the robber is revealed to be Michael’s worthless brother-in-law, who secretly offers to share the loot with Min if she can grab it from her husband.

Other characters include Michael’s loving, long-suffering sister, a young couple whose uneasy courtship suggests the Donovans’ youthful beginnings, a neighbor who thrills to lament over everyone’s troubles (what’s the Irish word for schadenfreude?) and a parish priest who is no help at all.

They are all interesting individuals and the regional language they speak is juicy. Issues regarding faith, dispossession, family loyalty and the subtleties of informing on others – there’s an Irish subject for you! -- are among the drama’s potentially absorbing themes.

Sadly, much of the acting scarcely does the play justice. More of a scholar than a showman, Jonathan Bank has superb taste in literature, but shows little flair for directing actors. The rich dialogue mostly is squandered by the ineffectual performances.

The best portrayals are provided by Rosie Benton, whose Min is vehement with disappointment, and Aidan Redmond, whose brooding Michael is a handsome wreck of a stubborn man.