There’s a hell of a lot of drinking going on at the Round House. The holiday season furnishes a reason to get smashed for the characters of The Seafarer. They don’t eat much, but they are constantly offered mince pies and smoked salmon by their host (which never materialize). Made me hungry, but these Irishmen seem to exist solely on beer and whiskey!
Four comrades meet for a poker party one Christmas Eve night, with a stranger invited to make up the number for five-card draw. “Sharky” Harkin (Chris Genebach), his blind brother Richard (Marty Lodge), and their friends Ivan (Michael Glenn) and Nicky (Maboud Ebrahimzadeh) all have various reasons for staying sodden, though Sharky has recently undertaken to refrain from drinking – he’s made good on it for several days now. Will he manage to overcome the events of the evening and find strength for the triumph of the human spirit over adversity?
For adversity comes for him, in the shape of Mr. Lockhart (Marcus Kyd), a sharpie in a bespoke suit who is more than just a poker fifth. It seems that many years ago, Sharky was helped out of a spot of trouble with the understanding that there would be a reckoning later, and Mr. Lockhart has come to collect. The fate of Sharky’s eternal soul hangs on the outcome of this poker game.
Like Conor McPherson’s breakout hit, The Weir, a tight ensemble of actors holds our attention with human interactions (although effort must be taken to pierce the thick Irish accents, it’s worth it), until the uncanny intrudes just before intermission. The “son of the morning star” adds that frisson of upleveling that The Weir provided with a ghost story, and the suspense of Sharky’s fate keeps us absorbed while the characters absorb the sauce.
We arrived early at the Round House to take advantage of their café menu inspired by The Seafarer. In addition to cocktails named the likes of “Cab Fare” and “Irish Hot Hello,” the offerings did indeed include a Smoked Salmon Dip (alas, no mince pies), and our selection, Dublin Coddle Stew. The stew includes pork rib, potatoes, green onion, and a crunchy element (fried onions?), and was very tasty. We also appreciated the playlist for the ambient music; a fine selection of traditional favorites including numbers by the Pogues, the Cranberries, Flogging Molly, and Great Big Sea.
All told, a fine Irish evening. The Seafarer runs until December 31 at Round House Theatre.
