Cyprus Avenue

B-

This seems to be the season for importing harrowing plays with superb actors from across the pond. First we got “Girls & Boys,” a solo piece for Carey Mulligan that takes a very dark turn. Now The Public Theater is presenting this import from Dublin and London starring an actor too rarely seen here, Stephen Rea. “Girls & Boys” is a stroll in the park compared to this play. Rarely have I left a theater feeling so emotionally drained. David Ireland has written a very, very black comedy about a Belfast Protestant, Eric (Rea; Someone Who'll Watch Over Me, "Thr Crying Game"), who becomes obsessed with the idea that his infant granddaughter is the incarnation of archenemy IRA president Gerry Adams. Eric is a staunch Unionist who derives his sense of self from hatred toward Irish Catholics or, as he calls them, Fenians. He actually says “We are nothing without prejudice.” After verbally abusing his wife Bernie (Andrea Irvine) and daughter Julie (Amy Molloy) and menacing the baby, Eric is turned out of his own home. We learn his story in flashbacks during his conversations with his black psychologist Bridget (Ronke Adékoluejo). Be prepared to hear both the N word and the C word. While sitting on a park bench, Eric is accosted by Slim (Chris Corrigan), a Protestant paramilitary who mistakes him for a Fenian. Their extended scenes together are the best in the play. Each gets a remarkable soliloquy that exemplifies absurdism of a high order. The roles for the women, alas, are underwritten. While the details are about ethnic strife in Northern Ireland, the playwright is clearly using them to illustrate the all-too-relevant universal problem of demonizing the other and turning too readily to violence. At a certain point, the play crosses a line from black comedy to theater of cruelty. The last 20 or so minutes of the play were excruciating to sit through. I felt manipulated, exhausted and angry. The entire cast is strong, particularly Rea and Corrigan. Vicky Featherstone, artistic director of the Royal Court, successfuly gives equal attention to the two halves of the audience seated on opposite sides. The scenic and costume design by Lizzie Clachan (Yerma) is appropriately bland. It would have been helpful if the program had included a few notes, e.g., explaining that the UVF is a Protestant paramilitary group or that Cyprus Avenue is a prosperous Belfast street mentioned in a Van Morrison song. Whether the opportunity to see Stephen Rea in an absurdist play that is highly relevant to our world is worth sitting through the play’s shocking finale is a close call. Running time: one hour 40 minutes; no intermission.